The School Committee on Monday approved a new three-year contract with the Cranston Teachers’ Alliance, as well as pay increases for a number of administrators and support staff.

Ahead of the committee’s votes, Superintendent Jeannine Nota-Masse said the agreement with the union and the administrative salary hikes are “critical to the continued success of Cranston Public Schools.”

“School departments are under siege every day from crumbling infrastructure, municipal mismanagement, and destructive relationships between management and labor groups,” she said. “Fortunately, our district is not suffering from any of these ailments. The reason we are not suffering is due to the people who work in the Cranston Public Schools.”

The agreement with CTA – which represents the district’s more than 1,000 teachers – covers the fiscal year that began July 1, as well as those encompassing the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years.

It provides for 2-percent raises for teachers in each of those years. A fiscal impact statement indicates the agreement will cost an additional $1.935 million for the current fiscal year, followed by $1.815 million in 2020-21 and $1.711 million in 2021-22. The cumulative total impact through 2022 is listed as $11.148 million.

The agreement includes an increase in health insurance deductibles starting in 2020-21, and adds a vision rider for medical coverage starting Jan. 1, 2020. Additionally, the class cap payout threshold – at which teachers receive additional compensation for class size overages – for kindergarten through second grade is lowered from 25 students to 22 students.

The contract will be subject to approval by the City Council.

Nota-Masse thanked the union’s leadership and said negotiations went “smoothly.”

“[Teachers] are the people who are on the front lines every day working with our students,” she said. “They act as mentors, parents, friends, therapists, and yes, also try to give our children the academic, social and emotional skills to be successful after they leave high school … These are the professionals who come to work and have several responsibilities that are critical in the lives of our children, and should be compensated appropriately for their work.”

She added: “We also expect certain things from our teachers, and from a management perspective, this is a fair contract for both parties.”

Liz Larkin, president of CTA, said the agreement was “bargained in good faith, and it is fair and equitable to the alliance, to our students and to Cranston Public Schools.”

Ward 3 committee representative Paul Archetto called the agreement with CTA “very fair.”

“They deserve every penny,” he said.

Daniel Wall, the committee’s chairman and the representative of Ward 6, said both sides negotiated “in a professional manner.”

“I think it’s fair for the taxpayers and I think it's fair for our students,” he said of the agreement.

The administrative and support staff salary increases total roughly $105,000, with an additional $20,000 in associated costs such as pension and Medicare contributions. In all, 28 employees are included in the increases, which range from $500 to $18,200.

Nota-Masse said the move is meant to reward employees who “work behind the scenes” to support the district’s operations. She said many of those employees are compensated less – and often have more responsibility – than counterparts in Providence and Warwick. She also said many have remained with Cranston Public Schools despite more lucrative opportunities elsewhere.

“We don’t want them to leave. We don’t want people to go to other districts to chase some extra money,” she said. We want the people who work here … to continue working as dedicated employees in this district.”

Nota-Masse specifically highlighted Chief of Facilities Management Edward Collins, whose salary will increase $13,792 to $112,500, and Chief Technology Officer Donna-Marie Frappier, whose salary will increase $18,200 to $112,500.

Both, she said, “work tirelessly” and have responsibilities that “usually encompass a several-member department” in other districts.

Nota-Masse also said the increases come with “significant increased responsibilities” for the recipients.

“I am confident in every single one of the people I am putting forward for a pay increase,” she said.

Ward 5 representative Janice Ruggieri echoed Nota-Masse’s sentiment while speaking in support of the increases.

“A lot of these people could go somewhere. We’re glad they don't, and we don't want them to,” she said.

She added, “We do have special relationships that other districts look to us and say, ‘How are they doing that?’ … I am proud every day of what this district has come through and where we are now.”