The two year long labor contract dispute betweeen the Plainedge Federation of Teachers and the Board of Education is finally over. The two parties ratified a new six year contract this week.

"I think it's a good settlement for the community as well as the teachers," said Plainedge School Board President Josephine Reder.

For the past two years, the teacher's union and the school district have been in dispute over such issues as salary increases, what percentage of the health insurance cost should be covered by the district, and whether or not to add an additional 2.5 hours of extra help time per week for students. The last contract expired on June 30, 1996.

The new contract calls for a 0 percent salary increase in the first two years, 4.5 percent increase in the third year, 2.75 percent in the fourth year, and 3 percent increases for the fifth and sixth years, according to Reder.

According to Reder, the teachers' salary schedule had to be adjusted to what the community could afford in order to reach a contract settlement. She added that the school district was "not out to hurt teachers" or sacrifice the quality of Plainedge's educational system. However, the teacher's salary had to be in line with what was reasonably affordable for Plainedge.

The school district lost on points such as adding two workdays to the school year, eliminating salary for after school committee work and modifying contract language to indicate that prepartation time shall be used for professional acitivities only. These were all positions rejected by the teacher's union.

The new contract will maintain the 180 day terminal leave cap, require that the district pay 80 percent of the cost of teachers' health insurance and require teachers to give extra-help to students at the request and discretion of the parents and principal. Under the contract, teachers will also not be allowed to take video courses for extra credit without the approval of the supertintendent of schools.

Reder said she felt it was important that the two parties settle before the beginning of the new school year. "We're just pleased it's over and I know the community is," she said. "I hope we can all put this behind us and move forward for children and education."

The Massapequan Observer tried to contact the Plainedge Federation of Teachers, but union representatives were not available for comment at the time of publication.