The four-year collective bargaining agreement that the Altoona Area School Board voted to approve at its Aug. 4 regular meeting includes an annual 4% salary increase and an extra two days of professional development for teachers, Superintendent Brad Hatch said.

Extending the teachers’ contract from 187.5 work days to 189.5 ensures that Altoona Area will have 180 “true scheduled student days” every year, which enables administrators to make considerations for student half-days, early dismissals and “things of that nature,” Hatch said.

For example, the 2025-26 academic calendar includes three planned half-days for students that will serve as full days for teachers, who will complete professional development training after students are dismissed, Hatch said.

If teachers have already completed the training, they will earn time off, Hatch said.

Early steps

Altoona Area Education Association President Jason Geis said the negotiations team started their process in August 2024 at the start of the 2024-25 school year. The union representatives provided a list of bargains to district officials in January, which took until May to compromise and settle, Hatch said.

Geis said an “overwhelming majority” of the union’s membership — 78% — voted in favor of the agreement before it was brought to a vote by the school board this month.

“I think this was perhaps one of the most productive bargaining sessions I have ever been involved with. The board and administration were receptive to our concerns,” Geis said. “Both sides remained positive and worked together to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.”

The biggest bargains, Hatch said, included items about salaries and benefits.

During a presentation in April reviewing the district’s projected expenditures, business manager Sue Franks said salaries and benefits would make up 72% of the district’s instructional costs, which in turn made up 60% of the budget’s overall expenditures.

The previous teachers’ contract included an annual 3.25% salary increase for teachers, Hatch said, noting administrators considered inflation, the cost of living and “some other pieces” before settling with an annual 4% increase through the 2028-29 academic year.

As part of the agreement, district officials reduced the number of steps in the pay scale that teachers need to meet in order to receive the top salary. The number was reduced from 23 to 21, meaning teachers in their 21st year could earn a top salary, Hatch said.

A starting wage for teachers with a bachelor’s degree on the 2025-26 salary schedule is $51,971, Hatch said, adding the same starting wage for last year was $50,000. The top salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree is listed in the contract at $82,252.

A starting wage for teachers with a master’s degree on the 2025-26 salary schedule is listed at $53,571. Hatch said the same starting wage last year was about $51,800. The top salary is $83,852.

A starting wage for teachers with a doctorate on the 2025-26 salary schedule is $55,971. The top salary is $86,252.

By the end of the contract, at the 2028-29 salary schedule, a starting teacher will earn $57,789 with a bachelor’s degree; $59,389 with a master’s degree; and $61,789 with a doctorate. The top salaries will be $86,784 with a bachelor’s degree; $88,384 with a master’s degree; and $90,784 with a doctorate.

“To my knowledge, we have a very competitive starting salary within our IU (Appalachia Intermediate Unit 8), which is a four-county region. That would be Bedford, Cambria, Blair and Somerset,” Hatch said.

Other agreements

Hatch said the district’s health insurance costs will “essentially” remain the same, except for “some consideration of an increase to employee contribution because the cost of health care increases almost on an annual basis.”

The district also increased the number of college credits teachers can be reimbursed for in pursuit of higher education, Hatch said, adding the district has a rolling reimbursement process now in place.

That decision was a reaction to graduate programs being more than a traditional class in the fall, spring and summer semesters, Hatch said.

Nowadays, programs are eight-week courses, typically completed online, he said.

“We’re really trying to grow internal talent throughout that process as well,” Hatch said. “The other thing is we’re trying to incentivize attendance.”

Hatch said many districts in the area share “a significant concern” about the availability of substitute teachers. The district can save money if it doesn’t have to hire substitute teachers, he said.

Under the new agreement, Hatch said Altoona Area teachers can earn an extra personal day each semester by having perfect attendance.

“We look for win-wins throughout the entire process, and I think we did a really good job of finding priorities,” Hatch said. “We definitely want (teachers) to know how valued they are because they’re the lifeline of the school district.”

Hatch said teachers don’t work typical work days and often cram more than 12 months’ worth of work into their nine-month school year. “So, having a contract that recognizes that in terms of compensation was important,” he said.

Hatch said district officials used historical and projected information about Altoona Area’s local, state and federal revenues when determining teachers’ salaries and benefits under the contract.

Budget concerns

According to Hatch, Altoona Area’s budget is primarily dependent on state allocations, which have yet to be released and account for 67% of the district’s revenue.

“As we move into September, not having a definitive date on when those dollars will start being released, we’re reliant on our existing operational budget” for utilities and operational costs, Hatch said.

“There will be districts that have to take out loans just to pay payroll if we don’t have a (state) budget in the near future,” Hatch said. “That’s a major concern. Unfortunately, it’s becoming more regular.”

Hatch said the latest the district has ever gone without state funding was into December.

“We’re really hoping that it won’t get to that point because then every school district would be in a position to have to look at considerations to be able to just operate daily operations,” he said.

Based on Altoona Area’s projections, officials feel they’re soluble through September, but they may have to consider investments after that if the state budget does not pass, he said.

It’s a feeling school officials know all too well, as nearly $1 million in federal funding was withheld from the district earlier this year, Hatch said.

If the federal funding wasn’t released, district officials would’ve had to cut costs in some programs, like adult education, Hatch said.

“Fortunately, that’s an annual thing year to year and that allocation was released, so we’re good to go,” he said.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.