By Pete Bannan | [email protected] | The Delaware County Daily Times

With the first couple of weeks of school underway, teachers in Haverford are still working without a new contract.

Signs have begun popping up around the community supporting teachers and directing them to a Haverford Township Education Association website, which points to salary increases as the main issue.

The teachers union said they need higher pay as inflation has impacted their salaries. A second demand is for additional professional time.

An Aug. 21 letter to residents the school district said progress has been made, but the parties are nearly $6 million apart regarding salaries.

In a letter to residents who have inquired about the impasse, the school board states it values their teachers and continues to engage with the association to achieve a settlement as soon as possible, but they must balance costs.

"As a board, we must balance the fiscal desires of the association with the demands of other expenditures we have in the District, all while being mindful of the taxpayers in the community. We will continue to update the community as the process proceeds," the board stated.

The board posts they it is among the higher-paying districts in the region, and has proposed average salary increases of 4% per year.

That claim is disputed by the association, which states that number includes staff who have retired or resigned and the actual increase is just over 2%.

The association website states in the past 13 years teachers agreed to wage freezes when the district was in a budget squeeze, and then inflation has set back teachers.

The teachers union said a salary increase is required to stay competitive with other high-performing local districts. The union listed recent pay increases in the region, including 3% in Philadelphia, 3.6% in Wallingford Swarthmore and a 3.8% increase in Great Valley in Malvern.

The union believes a pay increase can come without jeopardizing programs or adding to taxes.

"Prioritizing fair salaries is not a matter of affordability, it's a matter of priorities and a commitment to retaining quality educators," the union said.

The next school board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the administration building on Eagle Road.

In the Springfield School District, an agreement was reached in late August on a five-year contract.

At the Aug. 28 meeting, the Springfield board of directors unanimously approved the agreement, stating everyone was a winner and the agreement will keep the tax increase there below 3%

"I think we all won," said Springfield Board President Bruce Lord.