Calvert Schools, Unions at Odds Over Pay Raises In Budget Plan

The Calvert County Board of Education has approved a $189.4 million schools budget for fiscal 2010, although it has not reached an agreement about salaries with support staff or teachers unions.

The budget, passed by the school board Thursday, includes step increases and a 0.5 percent increase in teacher and support staff salaries, as recommended by county Superintendent Jack Smith. That plan would preserve the 80 teaching and 10 support positions that were on the chopping block.

The Calvert Education Association and the Calvert Association of Educational Support Staff are pushing for the 4.5 percent salary increase provided for in their contracts.

"We thought we were making progress, but the board declared an impasse," said Joseph Sella, a spokesman for the associations.

State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick certified the impasse between the school system and the associations Thursday.

"I'm hopeful that Calvert County employees will see the action that the Board of Education took at the May 14 board meeting as a way to support continued success given the harsh economic reality with which we are faced," Smith said in a seven-minute video on the school system's Web site.

Calvert officials had given the school system two extensions to come up with a final budget request. The $189.4 million plan will be incorporated into the county's overall budget, which will be made public Tuesday by the Board of Commissioners.

Contract negotiations are expected to resume by the summer with representatives from the school system, the two associations and a mediator.