By Cindy Kranz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COLERAIN TWP. - Lengthy teacher negotiations in 11,000-student Northwest Local School District ended Wednesday when the school board ratified a three-year master contract with teachers.

The board unanimously approved a 2.5 percent raise on the base salary, but an impasse clause, which teachers wanted eliminated, remains in place.

"I'm glad it's ratified," Phyllis Bell, president of the Northwest Association of Educators, told the board. "I know it's been a long, hard process for both teams."

The association represents 502 of the district's 700 teachers.

Teachers ratified the contract by a vote of 390-51 last week. They've been working without a contract since Aug. 31.

"I believe the tone was pretty good all the way through, until we got to the impasse language. That was our sticking point," Bell said after the meeting.

The impasse clause states that once an impasse is declared, the board has the right to implement its final offer unilaterally, she said.

"We came perilously close to striking. This was ratified at the direction of the team. (The impasse clause) is still an issue," Bell said. "Our members are basically very upset about that, even more so than the money issue, but we're glad to have a contract, and we will move forward."

The clause could come up again this spring. The approved contract includes a one-year agreement on salary and benefits, plus an opener in which each side can present two language items for negotiating.

First-year teachers with a bachelor's degree now make a base salary of $30,887.

Under the new contract, they will make $31,659.

In addition to the base increase, teachers with a bachelor's degree and 27 years or more experience received an additional slight pay increase through an index adjustment.

A teacher who made $57,048 under the old contract will now make $59,281.

E-mail ckranz@enquirer.com