The Anne Arundel County school board approved yesterday a teachers' contract that provides the biggest pay increases to new and veteran educators, while also giving an across-the-board 1 percent raise to all teachers.

The two-year contract, which takes effect July 1, pays first-year teachers an annual salary of $33,347, up from $32,167 this year. The increase doesn't put Anne Arundel in the same league with its wealthier neighbors, but officials say it will keep the county competitive.

Anne Arundel ranks 13th out of the 24 school systems statewide in beginning teacher salaries.

Veteran teachers will also get a raise from the contract. Under the current pay scale, teachers with a master's degree top out at $60,869 after 28 years of experience. The new scale will pay $62,759 to teachers with 34 or more years.

"Hopefully, it will encourage teachers to remain with us for another year to keep the more experienced teachers here," said Sharyn Doyle, the system's supervisor of teacher personnel.

She said it is crucial to increase the starting salary to keep up with nearby counties. Montgomery County paid its beginning teachers $35,087 this year - the highest in the state.

"There's no question we need to have more competitive salaries to attract teachers," said Doyle, who expects to hire between 600 and 700 teachers this summer. "We already have an outstanding reputation."

The county teachers union overwhelmingly approved the contract June 5. It provides a 1 percent cost-of-living increase for the next school year and 3 percent for the next year.

"Neither side was particularly satisfied with the 1 percent increase, but we have to remember we've had a 10 percent raise over the last two years," said teachers union president Susie Jablinske.

Salary wasn't the only issue for the union. The teacher workload is becoming unbearable, Jablinske said, and is one of the biggest reasons that people leave the profession.

Solutions to that problem - such as reductions in paperwork or class sizes - weren't dealt with in this round of bargaining. But the union retained the right to negotiate that issue before the 2003-04 school year.

Also yesterday, the school board approved two elementary school principal transfers. Sharon Herring was moved from Windsor Farm to Jacobsville, and Randall Rice was moved from Fort Smallwood to Windsor Farm.

Herring had been appointed Windsor Farm principal two weeks ago, but parents in that community on the Broadneck peninsula objected and quickly organized against the assignment.

Herring was principal at Central Elementary this past school year, where she angered some parents by changing the Halloween celebration into a Harvest Day party and by reducing time for recess, parents said. Herring asked to be reassigned this week, said interim Superintendent Kenneth P. Lawson. "She didn't want any controversy there to affect the children there," Lawson said.

But mostly yesterday, the board honored its outgoing members and leaders. Major changes are in store July 1, when three new members join the board and a new superintendent, Eric J. Smith, begins work.

"It's a changing of the guard and the breakup of a team that has come through a lot of hard and emotional times on behalf of Anne Arundel County students," said board President Carlesa R. Finney.

Joseph H. Foster is leaving the board after 10 years, Vaughn L. Brown after five years, and student member Brandon Van Bibber after one year.

Finally yesterday, the board dedicated its Annapolis headquarters to former superintendent Carol S. Parham, who led the system for 8 1/2 years before retiring in December. A new sign was unveiled over the front entrance to the building, proclaiming it the Dr. Carol Sheffey Parham Building.

After receiving a standing ovation from a crowd of 100, Parham cradled her baby granddaughter in her arms, looked up at the sign and shook her head.

"I look up there and I say, 'Is that me?'" she said. "Yes, it is me. But it's also so many other people. I'm thinking of so many people right now, certainly my parents and my grandparents ...

"To my family, to the Board of Education, to the citizens of Anne Arundel County, for the privilege of serving as superintendent of schools and for the singular honor of having this building named for me, I humbly say thank you."