JACKSON TWP — Teachers in the Seneca Valley School District voted Monday evening to ratify the five-year contract that the school board approved Sept. 13.

A district statement said the early bird contract, which takes effect July 1, 2011, and expires on June 30, 2016, includes an annual pay increase averaging 3.48 percent and health care modifications such as increased premium contributions, deductibles and co-pays.

Butch Santicola, Pennsylvania State Education Association spokesman, said teachers told him just after 6 p.m. they had approved the contract.

He said he was happy the contract could be hammered out nine months before the expiration of the current deal, which was only settled after a strike last year.

"It's good news," Santicola said.

School board President Robert Hill was pleased with the ease both sides had in reaching a contract.

"We are pleased with the cooperative spirit in which the negotiation team worked to finalize this contract settlement," said Hill. "Having this vitally important agreement in place allows us to move forward with the business of education."

The current contract was approved in April 2008 after the district's 583 teachers went on strike in October 2007. Teachers had worked without a contract since July 2006.

Teachers got an average 4.3 percent annual pay hike in that contract.

The new contract has a starting pay for first-year teachers at $40,905, down slightly from the starting salary under the current contract. A new teacher with a master's degree will start at $43,905. That position gets $42,803 now.

In the final year of the new contract, the entry-level teacher will get $43,881 and the entry-level teacher with a master's degree will get $48,861.

Seneca Valley business manager Lynn Burtner offered the following highlights of the new contract:

Pay increases for teachers range from 3.75 percent the first year of the contract to 3.16 the fifth year. Entry level bachelor's and master's degree teachers now earn $40,923 and $42,803, respectively.

In the new contract, those amounts increase to $40,905 and $43,905 in 2011-12, and $43,881 and $48,861 in the fifth year of the contract.

Teachers also will pay annual health care deductibles in the new contract, which they have not done before. Teachers will pay $100 per year for an individual and $200 for a family plan or other plans.

Regarding health care premiums, teachers will pay $20 every other week for an individual and $30 for other plans. The premium increases the third year of the contract to $25 and $35.

Co-pays have also been added for teachers, including diagnostic and emergency room visits. Burtner said the co-pay for pharmaceuticals has been completely restructured.

Burtner said the district should save just under $350,000 over the life of the contract because of the health care costs for teachers.

The top salary in the final year of the new contract is $81,860 for teachers with at least 19 years of experience.