Colleagues,
I am pleased to inform you that we have reached a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Rochester City School District for a one-year extension of our contract with two positive changes. Everything in our current Collective Bargaining Agreement, which expires this June 30th (this Monday), remains the same except for the following two modifications:
- The salary increase for next school year (2025-2026) will be 4% instead of just what we otherwise would have received as step increases (averaging 2.17%). The 4% increase matches the highest percentage increase negotiated for the 2025-2026 school year in Monroe County.
- Additionally, every RTA bargaining unit member who remains actively employed within the RCSD until the end of the 2025-2026 school year will receive a $2,500 Retention Incentive in a separate check.
Attached below is the actual language of the new Memorandum of Agreement and the projected salary schedule for the 2025-2026 school year. The $2,500 Retention Incentive would be in addition to the salary increase. No other changes have been agreed to. We will resume negotiations immediately to achieve the other very critical priorities that you have identified through our negotiations survey and forums (school safety, student discipline, lower class sizes, reduced paperwork, and so much more). Dr. Eric Rosser, our incoming superintendent, has already agreed to continue bargaining this summer.
Earlier today, the RTA Representative Assembly acted upon the recommendation of the RTA Executive Council and voted overwhelmingly to endorse the modified one-year extension of our contract. The RCSD Board of Education is scheduled to vote on this Memorandum of Agreement at their regularly scheduled meeting tomorrow. If ratified, the modified one-year extension will give us the needed time to finish bargaining the multi-year successor contract that would continue our drive for a more genuine teaching profession for ourselves and more effective schools for all our students.
Thank you to our negotiations team for their hard work in achieving this contract extension agreement and to you, our members, for your continued and unswerving support. Most importantly, thank you for all that you do, and will continue to do, for all our students.
Wishing you a good and restful summer.
Adam Urbanski, RTA President