FY26 Contract Ratification

General Wage Increase

• All Unit 1 employees will receive a 3% COLA along with advancing a step if eligible.

Career Ladder Improvements

We made significant changes to the career ladder during this negotiation. Some of the highlights:

• STEP-EQUIVALENT YEARLY INCREASES: Beginning in FY27, employees on Levels 3 and 4 will receive an annual step-equivalent increase on base salary, pending full-step funding. This is being done in lieu of the $500 annual increase.
• ADVANCED DEGREES: Unit I employees who opt into the AACPS Teacher Career Ladder for the 2025–2026 school year and are accepted into or enrolled in an approved comprehensive program by June 30, 2025, that leads to a Master’s, Master’s +30, Master’s +60, or doctoral degree will receive a one-time pay enhancement (equivalent to one “right” lane movement) that they would have received under the traditional salary scale upon completion.

Adjustment to Classification Level for High School Unified / Allied Coaches

• Move and rename “Unified Allied Sports Advisor” from class IV to class III and rename it to “High School Unified / Allied Coach.” The position will include Unified Tennis (Fall), Unified Bowling (Winter) and Unified Bocce (Spring)

Annual leave—the following changes allow for more flexibility in the use of annual leave:

• A Unit I member shall normally take annual leave during the summer following the year in which it is earned. The Unit I member may take annual leave at other times during the school year if the request has been approved by the member’s immediate supervisor and if the leave does not interfere with the needs of the school system.
• A Unit 1 member may take annual leave throughout the school year upon approval by the member’s immediate supervisor, provided the leave does not interfere with the needs of the school system.

Bereavement—the following change expands qualifying uses of bereavement

• Each Unit I member shall be granted up to four (4) consecutive duty days of absence without loss of salary on the death of a child, stepchild, parent, stepparent, spouse, sibling, stepbrother, stepsister, aunt, uncle, parent-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, grandparent, grandchild, spouse’s grandparent, or one who has lived regularly in the household of the member. One of the four (4) consecutive days must be taken on the day of the funeral, memorial, or interment unless the funeral, memorial, or interment occurs on a nonwork day. With approval from the Superintendent or designee, one or more of the allowed days may be used at a time that is not immediately proximate to the date of death for a burial or memorial service that occurs at a later date. Upon written request from the member, stating the circumstances which made additional time necessary, the Superintendent or designee may authorize an additional day.

4-day work week—note this is NOT the exact language but is the intent of what was bargained

• This year the 4-day work week will commence on June 25^th. However, you will now have the option to flex your time within a 12-hour window period between 6:15am and 6:15pm if you are a central office employee. If you are school based, these hours will vary depending on your building, but you will also have flexibility with your hours.