KARNS CITY — Karns City School District officials have announced that they have agreed to a five-year contract with the Karns City Education Association.

The current contract runs through June 30, 2014.

The new contract, which must be approved by the school board, would take effect July 1, 2014.

The agreement covers 114 teachers, school librarians and nurses and includes pay increases of 2.5 percent in each of its first two years. Salaries for the final three years still must be negotiated.

“The two sides did want to try to restore a more amicable way to resolve our differences,” said Eric Ritzert superintendent. “We wanted to resolve the contract in a way that was less challenging than the previous contract.”

Negotiations for the current contract had gone to nonbinding arbitration before the two sides reached an agreement in October 2010. In that instance, teachers had worked for more than a year without a contract and nearly went on strike.

They received a 3.6 percent average annual increase retroactive to July 1, 2009.

Thereafter, school officials and teachers' union representatives formed a labor relations committee to discuss financial issues.

“This actually started after our last contract and I felt there was a better way to do it,” said Brian Markle, union president and high school technology education instructor. “This was a collaborative effort” that resulted in a “fair and agreeable” settlement for school officials, union members and taxpayers, he said.

The school board will vote on the new agreement at its meeting at 8:30 p.m. Monday in the high school LGI. Residents can pose questions to the board then.