Custodians in Jim Thorpe Area School District will see a 50-cent per hour wage increase, while full-time cafeteria workers will remain at their current pay rate under a three-year agreement between the district and the Teamsters Local 773.

The board voted earlier this month to accept the contract, which expired on June 30."We think it's a win-win for the district and the employees," Jim Thorpe Superintendent Brian Gasper said on Thursday."We appreciate this group and what they do. It's a team effort in the district and they are a big part of that. It's nice to move forward and not have this hanging over our heads."Gasper said he believed the union voted unanimously to accept the agreement.The two sides had been close several times since June, with wages and health care being the main sticking points.The contract gives employees two PPO coverage options. One plan offers a deductible of $500 for an individual and $1,000 for the family, while the second option has a $1,000 and $2,000 deductible respectively.In the past, there was no deductible for the employees."It's a tough situation, but given the climate of public education today, the Affordable Care Act and all of the other items that go into this, we had to look at adjusting that zero deductible," Gasper said."Like everyone else, we had to get some plan in place to defer the Cadillac tax."The Cadillac tax is a side effect of the Affordable Care Act that targets health care plans exceeding $10,200 of coverage for individuals and $27,500 for spouse or family coverage.Entities exceeding that amount will be required to pay the 40 percent tax.The government projects that 60 percent of employers will have some offerings within the thresholds and have to pay the tax between 2018 and 2022.Having checked one contract off its list, Jim Thorpe is now working on a deal with its teachers, who have been without a contract since July 1, 2013.The district's administrators have been without a new agreement since July 1, 2014."I think we're ready to move forward with those conversations now that we have the one contract under our belt," Gasper said.