Details from the new teachers contract

Columbus Education Association leaders and the Columbus Board of Education inked a new contract yesterday morning, officially ending their labor dispute.

Highlights of the three-year deal:

❄️ Snow days: No work is required from union members on "calamity days," though students may have to complete independent work at home.

🏫 HVAC upgrades: All schools will be fully "climate controlled" by the 2025-26 school year.

🧑‍🏫 Class sizes: By 2023-24, a middle school's maximum class size will be reduced from 35 to 33, and a high school's from 36 to 34.

🖍️ Elementary art, music and physical education: Teachers won't be assigned to more than two buildings.

💼 Outsourcing jobs: The number of positions the district can subcontract is capped at 15% of union membership.

👶 Paid parental leave: 20 days at 70% pay for birth or adoptive parents, five days for partners.

💰 Pay: 4% annual base pay raises — the largest increase in 25 years, per discussions during Sunday's union vote. That's in addition to "step increases" already built into the salary schedule that reward seniority.

• Members will receive a bonus of three days' wages to cover pay lost while striking.

Yes, and: 4% raises will also be given to the Columbus School Employees Association, representing 3,000 non-teaching employees including custodians, cafeteria workers and bus drivers.

• That union had negotiated 2.25% raises from 2021-23, but its three-year contract includes a clause requiring the district to match any raises given to teachers.