The Anoka-Hennepin school board approved the Anoka-Hennepin Education Minnesota teachers' contract for 2015 through 2017 this week, wrapping up one of the earliest agreements in the history of the district and the teachers' union.
The contract for district teachers includes a salary boost, financial incentives for teachers with about 10 years of experience and the first salary increase in seven years for coaches and extracurricular leaders.
Its Monday night ratification was the earliest of the last decade, said Anoka-Hennepin Education Minnesota president LeMoyne Corgard.
The negotiating teams reached the tentative agreement on Sept. 4 with negotiators for the Anoka-Hennepin school board after meeting 11 times since May. The union's members voted to support the agreement earlier this month.
It's the second time the tentative agreement was ironed out before students were back at school.
The board voted 4 to 1 in support of the contract, with William Fields voting no and Jeff Simon abstaining, because his wife is a teacher in the district.
"It's different this year, and we really appreciate that," board chair Tom Heidemann said at the meeting. "It was about getting the job done."
The contract for 2013 through 2015 wasn't settled between the district and the union until April 2014.
