Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) and the Traverse City Education Association (TCEA) - the union employee group covering 528 teachers, social workers, counselors, and librarians - have reached a tentative agreement for a two-year contract extension.

The extension will begin September 1, 2020 and continue through August 21, 2022. The current bargaining unit agreement, which was ratified in October 2018, runs through the 2019-20 contract year. The extension includes a 1.5 percent increase in pay each year, as well as step increases. It also includes enhancing medical insurance options for employees while limiting the school district’s liability. Teachers would have five insurance plan options through MESSA beginning on January 1, 2020.

The TCAPS Board of Education will hold a special meeting Monday at 7pm to approve the contract extension, provided it is ratified by TCEA membership. 

“We recognized years ago that the traditional model of endless cycles of negotiation doesn’t best serve our staff or our students,” said TCAPS Superintendent Paul Soma in a statement. “The benefit of providing certainty for teachers that they are working under a fair, multi-year contract is clear and is one important factor in TCAPS’ recent student achievement successes. The TCAPS Board has made it a priority to demonstrate their support and commitment to all staff through a constructive and progressive contract strategy. I’m proud to work for an organization that follows through on such a commitment.”

TCEA President Allyson McBride-Culver said that through "collaborative practices established under Paul’s leadership, meetings that were scheduled to discuss the district’s plan to move all employees to MESSA as the sole insurance provider led to the TCEA initiating a conversation about exploring a contract extension." She continued: "These discussions ultimately led to a tentative agreement for a two-year contract extension. Our teachers can now feel secure that they have a contract for the next four years, which allows us to make exceptional teaching and learning our sole focus.”