School board, teachers agree on 3-year contract

The Wrangell teachers union and school board have agreed on a new three-year contract that starts this summer and includes a 1% raise each year and higher out-of-pocket deductibles for teachers enrolled in the district’s insurance plan.

The contract also includes an optional insurance plan with even higher deductibles that would reduce the share of premiums paid by the Wrangell Teachers’ Association.

Employers have been increasingly switching in recent years to high-deductible plans in an effort to stem the rising cost of health insurance.

The three years of a 1% raise will cost the district a...