LINCOLN — With the opening of school just about a month away, the Lincoln School Committee and district’s teachers union have agreed on a new three-year contract.

The agreement sets a three-tiered raise structure, giving different raise amounts to teachers in the 10 steps. In steps 1 through 4, teachers will get raises of 1 percent, 2 percent and 2 percent over the three years. In steps 5 through 9, they will get 2 percent, 2.5 percent and 2.5 percent over the three years. And for the top-scale teachers in step 10, which covers just about half of the district’s 360 teachers, the raises are 3 percent in each of the three years.

In terms of their impact on the School Department budget, School Committee Chairwoman Mary Anne Roll said the raises translate to 2.65 percent, 2.65 percent and 2.9 percent overall.

Teachers report to work on Aug. 27 while students are due on Sept. 2.

The agreement also increases the teachers’ contribution for health insurance from 10.5 to 15 percent, increases emergency room visit co-pays from $50 to $100 per visit, eliminates paid sabbaticals — saving about $89,000 — and cuts the amount of money the district pays teachers who don’t take out health insurance from $3,200 to $2,300. It also eliminated three sick days.

Roll said both sides had been working on the deal since January, but it wasn’t until the state budget and aid to education was decided that the committee knew what it could afford to give, especially for salaries. But once those numbers became clear, she said the agreement came together fairly smoothly.

Mary Ann Canning McComiskey, president of the Lincoln Teachers Association, said the agreement struck a sufficient balance between maintaining competitive pay levels while trying to give the district some financial relief as well.

“We were in a situation where you have to make concessions to maintain educational standards,” she said.

CENTRAL FALLS

In Central Falls, teachers ratified a new three-year contract in June. School Supt. Frances Gallo said the agreement must be approved by the state commissioner of education and the Board of Regents. They are expected to consider the contract on Wednesday.

Gallo said she could not divulge specifics of the contract until it is approved but she said that teachers will be receiving raises based on years of service rather than flat percentage. More than half the 242 teachers in the school system are at the top step, having taught 10 years or more.

Gallo said an agreement was reached that will increase the teacher’s health-insurance contribution over last year’s 7.5 percent, calls for a reduction in teachers’ buy-back waiver for not using the school district’s medical insurance. Gallo said they used to get back half of the premium if they waived medical insurance.

In other northern Rhode Island school districts with teacher contracts still in negotiation:

BURRILLVILLE

In Burrillville, a spokesman for the Burrillville Teachers Association, Tom Landry, said talks have been stalled since June.

“Nothing on the horizon right now, which is disappointing,” said Landry.

The district’s approximately 200 teachers have been without a contract since Aug. 31, 2007. The initial contract negotiations started almost two years ago. Landry said he believed more than half of the teachers are at the top step. Teachers are expected to report to school on Aug. 27. Last year, a Superior Court judge had to force them to work after they staged a strike during the opening days.

Landry’s union is affiliated with the National Education Association. Both sides have already sat for extensive mediation sessions. He said the teachers plan to work on opening day.

“As of now,” he said, “that’s the intent.”

FOSTER

The Foster Teacher’s Union, which represents teachers at Capt. Isaac Paine Elementary School, and the School Department reached an agreement on a three-year deal in April that will run from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2011.

In the agreement, step one goes from $37,000 in year one to $37,833 in year two and $38,589 in year three. Teachers at the eleventh step get $69,000 in year one, $67,752 in year two and $69,107 in year three. Top step or twelfth step teachers, who do not come on line until 2009, earn $71,817 that year and $73,254 the following year.

There are about 30 members in the union, of which about 24 earn top pay. There was no mediator needed in the April negotiations. School is set to open Sept. 8; teachers report to work Sept. 4.

GLOCESTER

The Glocester Teacher’s Union, which represents teachers in West Glocester and Fogarty Memorial Elementary schools, is still in negotiations and meeting regularly with the School Department, according to Gregory P. Piccirilli, the department’s legal adviser.

The two sides met last week and are expected to meet sometime next week. A mediator has not been requested. Both the union and administration have agreed they are not going to discuss publicly the particulars of negotiations at this point, according to Piccirilli.

There are approximately 60 union members, of which about 43 are at the top of the pay scale, according to town Finance Director Thomas Mainville. The union’s contract expired June 30. Teachers are to report to work Sept. 5; the first day of school is Sept. 8.

JOHNSTON

In Johnston, officials hope to secure a new contract with the Johnston Federation of Teachers before the old agreement expires on Aug. 31.

“So far, from everything I can sense, everybody participating in the process wants to get another contract,” the School Committee lawyer William Conley said. The school’s business manager, Melissa Devine, said she wasn’t sure how many teachers are at the top step of the contract. Staff at the district’s central office said the only way to make the determination was to individually analyze each teacher’s salary to see if it was in range of the top step.

More negotiation sessions are scheduled for this month. Teachers are due to report for a staff development day on Aug. 26. Schools open Aug. 2

SCITUATE

In Scituate, NEA/RI represents approximately 145 teachers, according to Schools Supt. Paul R. Lescault.

Lescault said that 104 teachers are at the top step of the current contract, which is set to expire before school opens in September.

He said the two sides have been meeting regularly, but have not yet reached the questions of salaries and benefits, normally the sticking point in negotiations. “I would imagine that they would be the biggest unresolved issues,” he said.

“The pace is going to pick up now,” he predicted.

Teachers are tentatively scheduled to report to school on Sept. 2, while students will begin school the next day.

SMITHFIELD

In Smithfield, where NEA/RI represents about 270 teachers, Schools Supt. Robert M. O’Brien replied, “We are making progress,” when asked if any issues are still unresolved.

He said that about 60 percent of Smithfield teachers are at the top step on the salary scale.

O’Brien declined to discuss specifics, saying, “We have been meeting regularly since January. We have agreed that we’re not going to talk [to the press] until this is finalized.”

Michael J. Twohey, president of NEA/Smithfield, said only that he was “not at liberty to discuss” the situation because negotiations were continuing.

With reports from John Hill, Tatiana Pina, Phillip Marcelo, Thomas J. Morgan and Mark Reynolds