“We’re going to have to digest this,” said Scott Traverse, lead union negotiator and social studies teacher at Woodland Middle School to the district’s negotiating team. “So our suggestion is that we be done for the evening.”

Trina Caudle, acting superintendent and lead negotiator for the district, presented the district’s final offer — a 1.7 percent raise for teachers, increases in the amount the district pays toward teachers’ health insurance, and the addition of two salary “steps” to help retain teachers — after a series of proposals and closed-door caucuses Thursday evening.

Anything higher than that offer, Caudle warned, could take one of the components, like insurance increases, off the table.

“We’re trying to meet your priorities, but even with this package we will need to make some adjustments to our budget,” Caudle said. More here. Keith Cousins, CdAPress

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