After a series of negotiation sessions in May and June, the Dowagiac Education Association and the district reached a settlement for the 2010-11 school year, a one-year agreement.

The DEA ratified the agreement on Tuesday evening, July 6, by a margin of 2-1 with its membership

The Dowagiac Union School Board of Education ratified the contract the following morning during a special board meeting.

The settlement included some minor contract language changes and the following changes in the salary and benefit package.

• For the 2010-11 school year, the teachers will remain on their 2009-10 salary step. The salary schedule was modified by $500 to $800 per salary step.

• If state funding is reduced by less than $100 per FTE, the district will contribute an additional $40 per fulltime teacher towards the monthly health insurance pool ($1,130 to $1,170), retroactive to Sept. 1, 2010.

The board said in a statement issued Thursday that it is appreciative of the manner in which negotiations were handled and with the final agreement, which represents a very modest increase during these difficult economic times.

Administrators, clerical and professionals were frozen in their salaries for the 2010-11 contract year.