Teachers at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School along with seven other Catholic high schools in the Diocese of Pittsburgh have a new five-year contract.

The new pact, which covers 214 full-time secondary lay teachers, was effective Thursday when the teachers approved the agreement.

The last six-year contract expired on Aug. 31, 2013 and negotiations continued through the interim.

The contract provides for average annual salary increases of about 2 percent over the five years.

It includes a pay freeze in the first year; multiple adjustments at various salary levels in year two, with an average increase of $1,000; flat increases of $1,000 for years three and four; and a flat increase of $1,500 in year five, according to a news release from the diocese.

Neither the statement nor Brian Klisavage, president of the Federation of Pittsburgh Diocesan Teachers, reported actual salaries.

There are 214 full-time lay secondary teachers in schools represented by the federation.

Those schools are Bishop Canevin, Central Catholic, Oakland Catholic, Serra Catholic, Seton-LaSalle, Saint Joseph and Quigley Catholic in addition to Cardinal Wuerl.

Klisavage said there are fewer than 30 teachers at Cardinal Wuerl High School.

The school has a planned opening for this fall.

Officials broke ground on the project in June 2012 on the 71-acre site on the north side of Route 228, near Cranberry’s border with Seven Fields.

The 180,000-square-foot building will house more than 1,000 students in grades 9-12. The project is estimated to cost more than $70 million.

The new contract runs through Aug. 31, 2018.

Klisavage said the negotiations took longer than normal, but the contract does help with several important issues.

He said it keeps the schools open, sets up policies regarding online classes and allows for teacher computer training.

He said teachers at the Catholic elementary schools are covered by another contract. There are about 400 of those teachers in 33 schools.

Michael Latusek, diocesan superintendent, said in the statement, “Reaching a five-year agreement shows the dedication and professionalism of our teachers. That spirit also shows in their dedication to support our efforts to offer an academically excellent and faith-centered education to our secondary students.”

Klisavage said in a statement, “In the contract we are responding to some changes in the field of education and advances in technology that are affecting the role of teachers. This is going to allow us to progress forward in providing an education that’s the most up-to-date for our students.

“We worked cooperatively with the diocese to make sure our schools are still affordable.”