After a year of talks that both sides said took longer than usual in these economically straitened times, the All-Island School Committee and the two Island teachers’ unions have inked a contract that will hand teachers an approximate eight per cent increase in pay and step wages over the next three years. Under the contract, new teachers will add two days to their work schedule for mentoring and training, and teachers in the two regional school districts will end their participation in an expensive indemnity health insurance plan, a move that will save the districts some quarter of a million dollars.

The contract goes into effect Sept. 1.

“This was a very long negotiation,” said Vineyard schools superintendent Dr. James H. Weiss yesterday. “The last time we did this it took us six months and I thought that was too long. This time it took us 12 months and that’s terribly too long.”

The Island teacher associations include the Martha’s Vineyard Educators Association, made up of teachers who work at the Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Tisbury schools, and the Martha’s Vineyard Regional Teachers and Educators Association, made up of teachers in the high school and up-Island districts, along with support staff from all of the Island schools.

Teachers from both associations reached a contract agreement in June, which was ratified by the Island school committee last week.

The new contract calls for a zero per cent increase to teacher salaries in the first year, followed by a two per cent increase in the second year and a 2.75 per cent increase in the third and final year of the contract. In the first year of the contract, the school district will pay out some $19.5 million in wage and step increases. By the third year, the number will be roughly $21.2 million, an 8.46 per cent increase over three years.

Pay raises from step increases, track changes and longevity pay are considered separate from the contractual salary increases.

Step increases are awarded based on years of service. First-year teachers begin at step one, and increase a single step yearly. There are 13 total steps in the system.

Teachers also fall into different tracks based on their levels of education. For instance, a teacher with a master’s degree earns more than a teacher with a bachelor’s degree.

Teachers become eligible for longevity pay after 10 years of service in the district. The amount increases incrementally thereafter. Under the new contract, the longevity pay scale will increase in the first year, and again in the third year.

Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools business administrator Amy Tierney said the longevity increases were added in part to benefit teachers at the top step of the salary scale. “We gave a zero wage adjustment to the matrix,” said Ms. Tierney, in the first year of the contract. “Those at the top step would get nothing of an increase.”

Over the three years, salary increases based on steps, tracks and longevity will be given in addition to the contractual wage increases. Of the 276 teachers included in the contract agreement, 161 are already at the top step of the salary matrix. They will be eligible for increased longevity pay.

Under the old longevity pay chart, increases ranged from $750 after 10 years of service to $3,250 after 30 years of service. In the first two years of the new contract, longevity pay will range from $1,000 after 10 years to $4,000 after 30 years of service. In the third year of the contract, the range will increase to between $1,250 and $4,250.

Ms. Tierney said the totals projected to be paid out for salary and step increases should be considered just that — projections. “The fact of the matter is we’re not going to have the same group we have right now in three years,” she said. Teachers may move or retire, and will be replaced by teachers at different levels of the salary matrix. “It’s never going to actually cost us that much money,” she said.

Mr. Weiss said language changes in the new contract mark two important changes over the last contract. One will lead to significant savings in the school district budget.

“The first one is that new teachers to the Island work an additional two days for their mentoring and induction program,” said Mr. Weiss, adding that many new teachers have volunteered for the programs but this way, it’s part of the deal.

Also, by eliminating the option of an indemnity health plan for teachers, the school district expects to save some $250,000 annually. The savings applies only to the Up-Island school district and regional high school district. Teachers in Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Tisbury are considered town employees, and are provided with health care options through the respective towns.

To those teachers for whom the school district does provide health insurance coverage, the school pays for 75 per cent of the plan while the individual employee is responsible for 25 per cent.

“The indemnity plan is outrageously expensive for everybody,” said Dr. Weiss. “I would go out on a limb and say it cost too much and the coverage was not that good.”

In the first two contractual years, teachers will also work one less day than usual, for a total of 183 working days. In the third year, the number of working days will return to 184 (new teachers will work an additional two days to fulfill their mentoring and induction program requirements).

Another change was made to the contract regarding sabbatical leave for teachers. Previously allowed a year-long sabbatical at pay rate of 50 per cent of their salary, teachers will now be given the option to take a semester-long sabbatical. Those who choose to take a half-year sabbatical will receive 75 per cent of their salary over the entire year.

And teachers who accrue sick days will be eligible for higher “buy-back” amounts after they retire. For every unused sick day, the retiree will receive $30 upon retirement. The former reimbursement amount was $15 per day.

The teacher contract negotiations did not include support staff, such as cafeteria workers, secretaries, custodians, and assistants. Cafeteria workers have already reached a contract agreement with the school district, and negotiations are ongoing for all other groups.

Mr. Weiss said that the process took far more time than usual because the district has less money to work with than in the past. “In the past we’ve had a good economy and we’ve had money that we could spend. This year we didn’t have much money, so that makes the negotiations more difficult,” Mr. Weiss said. “We’re happy to have a contract, and to have the negotiations over.”