ANDERSON — The Anderson Community Schools board on Tuesday approved a teachers contract revision that cuts staff pay by 3 percent, shortens and delays the start of the elementary school day and increases insurance premiums for employees.
The new teachers contract is expected to cut expenditures by $4,371,000, according to school district attorney Charles Rubright.
Contract negotiations began in September, Anderson Federation of Teachers President Tom Forkner said. The current teacher contract expires in 2018.
Board members had a short discussion about the contract Tuesday, and spent much of their time praising Anderson Federation of Teachers officials and administrators for coming to an agreement. Board member Tim Long said, “Compared to past years, it really sets a good precedence for the future.”
Last year, the controversial teachers contract resulted in board member Irma Hampton Stewart filing a lawsuit to stop the approval of the contract.
Superintendent Felix Chow said last year’s contract was negotiated between the school board and the union, and saw no involvement from the administration.
$15,000 to retire
The contract revision approved Tuesday features a $15,000 buyout for retirees who notify the district of their intent to retire by April 1.
“I don’t like it (the buyout),” Rubright told The Herald Bulletin. “We didn’t want to do it.”
Rubright said accepting the retirement incentive helped the district to get a contract that cuts $4.3 million in expenditures.
“They (union officials) thought they needed it to sell the contract (to teachers),” Rubright explained.
Teachers eligible for the retirement incentive include those 50 years of age or older who have worked for the district for 15 years and have a master’s degree or the equivalent credit hours.
Rubright said about 100 teachers meet this criteria, but the district does not expect all 100 to retire.
Forkner said the incentive will increase the number of retirements in the district and decrease the number of teachers who must be laid off due to declining enrollment.
Rubright said ACS budgeted for a loss of about 400 students at the start of the school year but found that more than 900 had left the district in the fall.
That number has jumped to 1,100 since the start of the school year.
Personnel director Beth Clark said 138 preliminary layoff notices have been sent to teachers already this spring.
30 minutes later
The teachers contract also changes the start time for area elementary schools. It will not affect school hours at the junior and senior high schools.
Currently, the elementary school day begins at 8:30 a.m. In the fall, that time will be pushed to 9 a.m.
School will still be released at 3:30 p.m. each day.
Forkner said this change allows teachers to meet on Monday mornings to develop strategies that will help improve the education of ACS students, including a new model the district is eyeing that increases the frequency of student assessments to catch students who have fallen behind in coursework.
This shortens the school week for students by 2.5 hours, but much of that instruction time is made up through the elimination of some art, music or physical education periods, Clark said. These time periods are known as “specials” with school officials. “Currently we have five days a week that students are in specials for 50 minutes — that’s 250 minutes. In the upcoming school year, they’ll have 180 minutes of specials.”
While the morning delay in the start of school may affect parent schedules, Clark said ACS did try to take a poll of area needs. “We did a survey with parents and really tried to listen to parents.”
A cut in pay
Under the new contract, a teacher making $60,000 will now get paid $58,200 as part of the 3 percent pay cut.
Forkner said the 3 percent pay cut is added to the 2 percent pay cut taken by teachers last year.
He added that he knows of no other district where teachers took a 5 percent pay cut over the span of two years.
In addition to pay cuts, teachers and staff members included in the contract will pay significantly more for their insurance benefits, he explained.
A typical teacher on the district’s family plan pays $111 biweekly, or 15 percent of the total premium, for insurance, Forkner said. Now, that same teacher will pay about $200 or 25 percent of the total premium.
Special education teacher Julia Martin said she’s not happy about how the contract will affect her family’s budget, but cuts were necessary.
“We’re going to have to make a lot of sacrifices,” she said.
“We did this to save the specials, the arts for our kids,” she added, “and to save class size.”
Taking one for the team
Rubright said a unique part of this year’s negotiations is that administrative officials, who are not bound by the contract, have decided to take the same cuts to pay and benefits.
This includes ACS Superintendent Felix Chow.
It was revealed at a recent meeting that Chow had not taken the 2 percent pay cut many ACS administrative personnel volunteered to take last year.
According to Rubright, Chow and every employee, except for food service workers and substitutes, have volunteered to take the financial hit as well this time.
Chow’s contract, according to Clark, includes a salary of $131,000 per year and a $1,000 per month car allowance.
His income will be slashed by 3 percent and he will also see an increase to 25 percent for his insurance premiums.
© 2025 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.