New Haven school administrators can expect a 9.59 percent raise over the next three years — plus step increases — if a contract newly ratified by membership and approved by the Board of Education wins a final sign off from the Board of Alders.
The city’s school board voted unanimously Monday in support of a new three-year agreement with Local 18, the school administrators union, during their latest meeting at King/Robinson School.
The school board members discussed the proposed bargaining agreement in private during execution session before voting publicly in support. The Independent obtained on Wednesday a copy of the draft contract, which now heads to the Board of Alders for a final review and vote. (The Board of Education also voted Monday in support of a new teachers union contract, which includes a 13 percent raise over three years. Click here to read more about that deal.)
In addition to a 3 percent annual raise, the admin union contract — which would run from July 2026 through June 2029 — includes updated work schedules and health benefits. Read the full proposed agreement below.
The admin union has 114 members. It includes the following jobs: ten-month Elementary Assistant Principals, 12-month Coordinator/SEL Coordinator, elementary middle and high school principals, Director of Professional Learning, Director of Athletics, Executive Director of Pupil Services, Director of Multilingual Learning, and Curriculum Supervisors.
NEW HAVEN BOE _ 2025 Administrator Negotiations – Tentative Agreement (DRAFT – 12.1.2025)Download
The agreement includes general wage increases of 3 percent each year, plus step increases for administrators below the top of their salary range. The total pay growth over three years averages 9.59 percent.
The union’s current contract expires June 30. The current contract included a 2.62 percent wage increase in year one, a 2.74 percent increase in year two, and a 2.8 percent increase in year three for all union members. That totals an 8.16 percent wage increase over the course of the three-year deal.
For health insurance, under this new agreement, the district would continue covering administrators working more than 20 hours per week and their eligible dependents under a high-deductible/HSA-eligible plan. Employees must contribute 17 percent toward the plan.
The agreement also sets administrators’ workdays to eight hours with a duty-free lunch. Ten-month staff would start five days before teachers and stay three days after the school year ends, not exceeding 194 days annually.
The new contract also secures paid leave for administrative staff for work-related injuries and funeral leave of up to five days.
Administrators union President Tara Cass told the Independent in a email Friday that Lincoln Bassett school principal Rosalind Garcia serves as vice president of the union and Hill Regional Career High School assistant principal Ciarcia Stephen serves as treasurer.
Cass noted that these are the highest wage and step increases the union has ever negotiated. Other key changes the union worked to add to the agreement that she also pointed out involved protecting work-year language for 10-month administrators, and clearer rules for complaint notifications.
”Our goal is to ensure that Local 18 remains committed to excellence in leadership and supervision without compromising accountability, fairness, and equity within the Board of Education,” Cass concluded.