Amid a data breach scandal consuming most of the room’s attention, the Lehighton Area School District board approved a four-year collective bargaining agreement with its teachers union Thursday night.

A memorandum of agreement tied to the contract’s health insurance provisions carried a hard deadline of Friday. Under its terms, if either side failed to ratify the CBA before that date, the health care modifications negotiated as part of the new deal would become null and void, leaving the previous contract’s insurance terms in place.

Open enrollment was also set to begin Monday, May 18. Board member Denise Hartley said the district’s attorney made the stakes plain before the meeting.

“Due to the open enrollment, if we would postpone it, it would affect the approval of the new contract, so that will cost taxpayers,” Hartley said.

The contract, which runs from Sept. 1, 2026, through Aug. 31, 2030, was approved 7-2. Board members David Bradley and Joy Beers cast the dissenting votes.

Beers offered two reasons for wanting to delay. One was principle; she said the public had not had enough time to review the contract documents. The other was religious.

“Tonight is a Catholic holiday, and Catholics cannot attend this meeting without committing a sin,” Beers said, referring to Ascension Thursday.

She proposed holding another special meeting within days so that the community could weigh in.

“I’m not proposing to postpone it to Monday or beyond,” Beers said, pushing back when others suggested any delay would run into the open enrollment deadline. When the vote on the contract itself came, she was clear she had no quarrel with what was in it.

“I’m totally OK with the contract. I think it’s fine, but I’m a no because I don’t think today is the right day,” Beers said.

Bradley’s objections went to the substance. He said he had loaded the salary matrix into a spreadsheet and ran the numbers.

“Some members, depending on where they are in the matrix, will get a 2% rate this year, and others will get an 8 (percent),” Bradley said. “We think it should be a unifying fairness.”

He also argued the public had been given little time to scrutinize the agreement.

“The opportunity was there for just more than 24 hours for people to see what is in this contract,” Bradley said. “The year-over-year percentage of raises is significant for the current budget, given the staff levels that we have.”

Superintendent Jason Moser laid out the contract’s financial terms for the public before the vote.

“Year one is a collective 4.3% increase, year two is a collective 4.01%, year three is a collective 4.02%, and year four is a collective 3.83%,” Moser said.

Resident Walter Zlomsowitch pushed back on Bradley’s comments, noting that board member Jeremy Glaush had served on the negotiating committee and had signaled weeks earlier that the outcome would be worth the wait.

“I took out of that that he was happy with what we could do for our teachers,” Zlomsowitch said. “The negotiation committee feels like they got a good deal, and the teachers that voted feel that way.”

Glaush acknowledged he would have preferred the public have more time to review the agreement but said the cost of delay made the choice clear.

“I would hate to cost the taxpayers more money, so my answer is no,” Glaush said of a Bradley motion to table.

Details

Under the new agreement, teachers will see salary increases across all four years of the contract. The base salary schedule begins at $55,500 in the 2026-27 school year for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree at the first step, rising to $63,200 at the same position by the 2029-30 school year.

At the top of the schedule, a teacher at the highest step with a bachelor’s degree will earn $83,500 in year one, reaching $87,600 by year four. Teachers who hold National Board Certification will earn $93,200 at the top step in year one and $100,800 by year four.

Longevity increments are also built into the contract. Teachers with 15 years of Pennsylvania school experience receive an additional $600 annually, with that figure growing to $1,000 at 20 years, $2,000 at 25 years and $3,200 at 30 years.

Additional compensation for work beyond the regular school day — including tutoring, adult education and summer instruction programs — will be paid at $37 per hour in 2026-27, increasing to $38 per hour in 2027-28 and $39 per hour in each of the final two years of the contract.

Health insurance

The contract’s health insurance changes, which take effect July 1, represent the most significant shift for many employees. Teachers enrolled in the Highmark BlueCare PPO plan will pay 7.5% of the premium equivalent in the first year of the contract, with no cap on that contribution. That share rises to 8% for the remaining three years, also with no cap.

Teachers on the high-deductible health savings account plan will continue to pay 2% of the premium equivalent, capped at $825 in 2026-27. That cap climbs incrementally each year, reaching $950 by 2029-30.

The district’s contribution to employee health savings accounts will also shift. For employees who complete wellness requirements — including an annual physical, registration with the HealthiestYou program and an updated online health profile — the district will deposit $1,600 for single coverage and $3,500 for family coverage into their HSA accounts in year one.

The family contribution decreases over the life of the contract, falling to $3,150 by 2029-30, while the single contribution remains at $1,600 throughout. Employees who do not meet the wellness requirements receive $1,100 for single coverage and $2,500 for family coverage, with the family amount also declining annually.

Once employees meet the plan’s deductibles — $2,000 for single coverage and $4,000 for family coverage — there are no additional out-of-pocket costs for in-network care. Prescription co-pays remain unchanged: $15, $35 and $60 at retail for 30-day supplies across the three tiers.