Lehighton Area School District’s board of directors approved a two-year pact with its teachers’ union Monday night following more than a year of negotiations.

The contract, passed by the board via a 5-4 vote, is retroactive to Sept. 1, 2020, and runs through Aug. 31, 2022.

According to Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver, it calls for an additional $7,450 in expenses for the 2020-21 school year and $416,738 in 2021-22.

Lehighton Area Education Association members agreed to a pay freeze for 2020-21, but they will get a double-step movement on the salary scale in 2021-22.

The district, meanwhile, agreed to an extra one-time $1,000 payment, which is exempt from the Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System contribution, applicable to the 2021-22 school year. District officials said 159 professional staff members will get the $1,000 payment.

Cleaver said that by not having a step movement in 2020-21 and instead offering the one-time payment, the district saved almost $60,000.

Director Rita Spinelli, who joined Larry Stern, Wayne Wentz, Stephen Holland and Nathan Foeller, was part of the district team who negotiated the contract.

“We were far apart and came together as best we could,” Spinelli said. “The teachers gave up some things, as did the board. That’s how negotiations work. Our teachers were gracious enough to accept this. They gave up a salary increase in 2020-21 to get this and they made some insurance concessions to get this.”

Board member Joy Beers, who voted no on the contract, along with David Bradley, Gail Maholick and Richard Beltz, said a pay freeze should have been expected all along.

“COVID-19 hurt the entire community in a very big way,” Beers said. “I think a pay freeze should have been expected when the teachers are a part of this community and understand everyone is hurting.”

With the contract ending Aug. 31, 2022, the two sides will begin negotiating again over the next year.

“The shorter contract does allow us to see where we are at financially,” Cleaver said. “There is a long range plan right now with some options to restructure and refinance debt that could start to build things back up. I think we’re moving in the right direction and this was a piece of that. I give credit to the teachers for seeing where we are at and coming together to do what’s right for everyone involved.”

Beers voiced disappointment that the board did not have a professional negotiator in the contract meetings.

“On the other side of the fence, they did have professional representation,” Beers said. “It’s quite obvious to me we shouldn’t vote for this without having a professional review the terms to see if it makes sense for us.”

In a previous meeting, Foeller, who was also a part of negotiation meetings, said he wasn’t opposed to bringing a professional in on the district’s side, but at that point, the deal was close to completion.

“We were so close that we only needed a few more meetings to get across the finish line,” Foeller said. “I think bringing in someone at that point would have dragged the process out even longer.”

In terms of salary, the contract calls for an employee at Step 1 with a Bachelor’s Degree to make $43,000. At Step 20, that salary is $70,585 and for steps over 20, it is $76,784. With a Master’s Degree, salaries range from $43,850 at Step 1 to $77,719 for steps over 20. The full contract, which also includes salary columns for Masters Plus 15, Masters Plus 30 and Masters Plus 45, is posted on the district’s website.

Lehighton will also offer a High Deductible/Health Savings Account health benefits plan with the district fully funding the $2,000/$4,000 deductible in the first year.

For employees not enrolled in the High Deductible/HSA plan, the cost of the contribution will be 2% of the employee’s yearly salary. Employees enrolled in the High Deductible/HSA plan, will have a contribution cost of 2% of the premium cost of the plan.

“A teacher making around $50,000 is going to contribute less in their health insurance by going with the HSA,” Cleaver said. “There is no real monetary savings to the district, but there will be a cost avoidance in the future. It makes employees more consumer conscious going forward.”