JACKSON TWP — More details about the new 5-year teacher contract has been released by the Seneca Valley School District.

The school board Monday night announced the early-bird agreement that runs from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2021, was approved by the board and the Seneca Valley Education Association.

Under this contract, a first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree will make $46,226 in the 2016-17 school year, according to information from Linda Andreassi, district communications director.

A teacher at year 10 on the bachelor’s step with 24 postbaccalaureate credits would make $65,466. A teacher with a bachelor’s plus 24 postbaccalaureate credits at the top step will make $80,277.

A teacher at the top step with a master’s degree will make $83,877.

The new contract also makes changes in the health care package with higher deductibles, higher co-pays and other changes.

Currently, the deductible is $100 for individual and $200 for family in-network and $500 for individual and $750 for family out-of-network. The coinsurance is 100 percent after deductible in-network and 80 percent after deductible out-of-network.

In the new contract, the deductible is $600 for an individual and $1,200 for a family in-network and $1,200 for an individual and $2,400 for a family out-of-network. The coinsurance is 100 percent after deductible in-network and 80 percent after deductible out-of-network.

The co-pay for some medical office visits is increasing.

A physician office and a specialist office visit co-pay is $10 now. That will increase to $20.

An urgent care co-pay is $10 now, and that will go up to $15. The emergency room co-pay increases to $100 from $75.

The prescription drugs co-pay now is $0 for generic and $25 brands. The prescription drugs co-pay stays at $0 for generic but goes up to $40 for brands.

Currently, the teachers pay for health care in a variety of ways, according the Lynn Burtner, business manager. They can pay through premium contributions, deductible and co-pays. The amount each one pays varies upon their use and the level of coverage.

Burtner said with the plan change, the focus of the employee cost sharing is concentrated on deductible and co-pays. This encourages more conscientious decisions by the employee and will reduce costs.

The district is a member of the Midwest Health Consortium, which is a self-funded consortium of 17 schools from Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties, Burtner said. This means that claims costs are paid dollar for dollar.

Burtner said every dollar saved through reduced usage saves the district money. When the new plan is in place, the payments into the consortium will be reduced by roughly $750,000 per year.

The plan is self-funded and the district does not buy traditional insurance coverage. However the consortium looks at the health care market though the Highmark network.

Also under the new contact, the teachers agreed to add two work days for increased student instruction and mandated state trainings.

There are 540 part-time and full-time teachers. The district has 7,156 students.

Seneca Valley’s budget is $115 million and $38 million of that is for teacher salaries.

The district said due to retirements, attrition, staff changes and possible program changes, it would be speculative what the teacher salary costs will be in 2021.