WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. June 23, 2003: The Board of Education meeting in Executive Session for 45 minutes Monday evening approved a new one-year contract with the White Plains Teachers Union stipulating a 3% increase in salaries from beginner to veteran. The increase was accounted for in the recently approved $134.6 Million 2003-2004 City School District Budget.
In a separate action, the Board also behind closed doors, approved a return to a 9-period day at White Plains High School which will be reconstituted after an absence of three years while the high school was being renovated.
EXEC SESSION AT ED HOUSE:
Superintendent of Schools Timothy P. Connors emerging from the just concluded Executive Session Monday evening (taking place in the Education House Board Room (lower left) told WPCNR the 3% increase had been approved by the White Plains Teachers Union in May, and the Board was ratifying it in an effort to remain competitive with other school districts in the county which averaged 3% and sometimes more, he said. Connors called it “A fair contract, and it keeps the district attractive.” He said the teachers union had voted to return to the 9-period day.
Photo by WPCNR News
According to the latest news release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, during the first five months of 2003, the CPI-U rose at a 2.3 percent seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). This compares with an increase of 2.4 percent for all of 2002, in which the White Plains teachers also received a 3% raise.
The index for energy, which rose 10.7 percent in 2002, advanced at a 16.5 percent SAAR in the first five months of 2003. Petroleum-based energy costs increased at an 11.5 percent annual rate and charges for energy services rose at a 21.2 percent annual rate.
The food index has increased at a 2.2 percent SAAR thus far this year, following a 1.5 percent rise for all of 2002. Excluding food and energy,
the CPI-U advanced at a 1.1 percent SAAR in the first five months, following a 1.9 percent rise in all of 2002.
