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<p>DALLAS TWP. &#8212; The Dallas School District presented the Dallas Education Association with a new comprehensive contract proposal Monday.</p><p>School Board member James Gattuso presented the new offer to union leaders in an hour-long meeting, said Michael Cherinka, the union president.</p><p>The offer includes a new salary matrix, healthcare plan and early retirement reduction, the Dallas School District Solicitor Vito DeLuca said.</p><p>&#8220;There is a lot of information to review,&#8221; Cherinka said. &#8220;We need time to analyze it before responding to it.&#8221;</p><p>DeLuca and Cherinka said the healthcare offer is completely revised and not based on the union&#8217;s previous proposal, prepared by Millennium Healthcare Group, an independent broker.</p><p>Cherinka said the union members would compare their current healthcare plan with the proposal next week.</p><p>&#8220;We have a (union) team meeting scheduled for next Tuesday,&#8221; Cherinka said.</p><p>Union members will also review the updated salary matrix, Cherinka said.</p><p>Under the expired pay matrix, Dallas School District teachers&#8217; received raises for each year (columns) up to 16 years and for every six college credits above a bachelor&#8217;s degree (steps) up to 36 credits beyond a master&#8217;s degree.</p><p>The 2014-15 matrix started with minimum annual earnings of $34,501 and would take an educator 15 years to reach a maximum pay of $80,866.</p><p>DeLuca did not provide details about the reformulated salary matrix but noted Gattuso&#8217;s presentation, which outlined the salary schedule, healthcare and early retirement, will be posted on the district&#8217;s website by Tuesday.</p><p>Union attorney John Holland asked the district for some financial information about salary percentages, Cherinka said.</p><p>&#8220;They (school board members) made it seem the information would be readily available,&#8221; Cherinka said.</p><p>The school board and the union are scheduled to meet again on Nov. 14 and 15.</p><p>&#8220;I am hoping to have a response by Nov. 14,&#8221; Cherinka said.</p><p>The Dallas Education Association has worked without a valid contract since August 2015. Negotiations, which began in 2014, reached an impasse on issues of salary, healthcare, pensions and early retirement.</p><p>As a result, the union went on a 22-day strike in November 2016, and the remainder of the 2016-17 school year was marred by threats of a second strike.</p><p>The stalemate continued into the 2017-18 term and led to another strike that covered seven school days.</p><p>The union has set a new strike date of Nov. 22.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Eileen Godin</p><p>egodin@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

New contract offer presented to the Dallas Education Association on Tuesday