Page 10 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • July 16, 2014 FLOW Area Teacher and superintendent agreements approved by Frank J. McMahon The Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School Board of Education approved a three-year agreement with the Ramapo Indian Hills Education Association on June 30. The board also approved separation and vacation pay agreements with the district’s outgoing interim superintendent, Ernest Palestis, and new Superintendent Beverly MacKay. The previous contract with the RIHEA, which represents the district’s teachers and supplemental teachers, instructional aides, administrative assistants, technical assistants, custodial/maintenance/grounds employees, and security aides, expired on June 30, 2013. Both sides failed to reach an agreement on a new contract after three ses- sions with a state-appointed mediator. The state then appointed a fact finder to review the evidence on both sides of the dispute in order to support the reasonableness of their last best proposals. The next meeting with the fact finder was scheduled for an unspecified date in August, but both sides decided to settle the dispute before the new superintendent’s term began on July 1. The new contract calls for a 2.3 per- cent increase, inclusive of increment and longevity, effective July 1, 2013, amount- ing to a dollar increase of $347,435; a 2.85 percent increase, inclusive of increment and longevity, as of July 1, 2014 amounting to a dollar increase of $440,419; and a 2.85 per- cent increase, inclusive of increment and longevity, effective July 1, 2015, amounting to a dollar increase of $452,971. The salary increase for the 2013-14 school year will be retroactive to July 1, 2013. The contract also contains some changes to various sections of the current contract, such as leaves of absence, longevity, and the placement of supplementary teachers on the salary guide, and holiday and vacation schedules. The new agreement also con- tains certain changes to the health insur- ance and prescription drug plans, which will benefit both the RIHEA and the school district, according to Thomas Madigan, the chairman of the school board’s Negotia- tions Committee. Madigan complimented both sides for resolving the dispute in a respectful manner. He said he believed both sides wanted to have a new contract in place before MacKay began her five-year term as superintendent. The regional trustees also reached agree- ments with Palestis and MacKay. The school board originally approved an employment agreement with Palestis under which he was to be employed until Aug. 26, 2014, but the board decided to discontinue his employment before that date because MacKay, the new permanent superinten- dent, was to begin her term on July 1. Palestis will be paid through July 22, 2014, or 15 additional work days as the full and final payment of the board’s obligation to provide Palestis with notice of the ter- mination of his employment agreement. In addition, Palestis will receive a merit pay bonus of $11,419 for meeting two quanti- tative and two qualitative goals during his term as interim superintendent. MacKay agreed to accept a cash pay- ment of $24,105 minus taxes and deduc- tions for 36 vacation days at her per diem salary of $670 that accrued to her on June 30, 2014 because those days cannot be carried over under the provisions of her employment agreement as the superinten- dent of schools. Prior to MacKay being appointed as the school district’s permanent superintendent, she was appointed as the interim superin- tendent from May 16, 2013 to Aug. 26, 2013, at which time she had accrued 16 vacation days under her prior employment contract as director of curriculum and articulation. When she resumed her former position as director of curriculum, she was entitled to 20 vacation days annually.