UPDATE: THE BOARD VOTED ON JUNE 14 TO APPROVE THE CONTRACTS AS PROPOSED.

The School Board will vote Monday on a 1-year administrators' contract and a 3-year contract for secretaries, custodians, and Central Office support staff.

If approved by the Board on Monday (June 14), the proposed contract for administrators will produce a -4.1 percent decrease in pay and benefits in 2010-2011.  Administrators will be furloughed (unpaid) three days, for a savings to the district of $132,000.  Administrators will collectively pay $300,000 more for insurance coverage, by treating them as teachers rather than the year-round employees that they are.  Individually, each administrator will pay between $1,000 and $5,000 more out-of-pocket for insurance, which averages over $3,100 per administrator.  Their Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) benefit will be cut in half (from $500 to $250 a year), to match the HRA level that teachers receive.  Administrators will no longer receive tuition reimbursement; teachers will continue to receive this reimbursement.

DESPA members, who include secretaries, custodians, and Central Office support staff, voted yesterday (June 9) by a large margin to ratify their proposed contract, which includes a -4.5 percent decrease to their pay and benefits.  The proposed DESPA contract would run from July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2013.  DESPA union concessions came primarily in the form of no overtime pay (saves $168,000), three furlough days (saves $143,000), and no "step" advancement on their salary schedule (saves $213,000).

Board President Joe Stevens said he and the Board were deeply appreciative of DESPA's willingness to make concessions.

"The lowest paid workers were among the most cooperative," Stevens said. "I called DESPA leaders today to thank them for their work."

LEAD members, who include nearly 1,400 teachers and other certified staff, voted "no" on Monday (June 7) against making $2.2 million in concessions to help the district reach its savings goal brought on by the state's fiscal crisis.

Instead, LEAD members will earn $4.4 million more in 2010-2011 than they earned this school year, in the form of:

• Lane changes: Teachers are projected to receive an additional $500,000 in 2010-2011 as they rise from lane to lane on the contract salary schedule for advanced coursework.
• Step increases: Teachers will continue to receive "step" increases on their contracted salary schedule, which will produce $1.4 million in additional income. "Steps" occur each additional year that an employee works for the district, to a limit.
• Overload pay: Teachers will earn $2.5 million in "overload pay" on top of their normal salaries, due to larger class sizes. The Board had asked LEAD members to give up some of this overload pay.

President Stevens said that the Board was very disappointed by LEAD's decision against a compromise.  The Board had gone to great lengths to be responsive to LEAD's concerns during negotiations, he said.  And because LEAD and the Board could not agree to concessions earlier in the year, there will be fewer teachers called back this summer.

This spring the Board voted to extend, or "roll over," LEAD's contract through June 30, 2011.  At the time, Stevens said, there was a clear understanding between the Board and LEAD leadership that LEAD would agree on concessions (to be determined), which would ultimately net the district savings.

LEAD's decision against concessions will force the Board to take a more severe look at LEAD's contract when it expires next year, he added. The Board will explore reductions in retirement benefits for LEAD members. The Board will also explore eliminating all 'extra pay' opportunities except possibly coaching duties.

"D300 can and should be a leader in dramatically changing the structure of labor agreements to more accurately reflect the 'real world'," he said.

For example, Stevens said the Board would like to explore requiring LEAD members to work at least 8 hours a day. 

LEAD members are paid $32/hour to provide lunchroom supervision and to supervise bus loading/unloading areas, which are considered "extra duties."  The Board tried to help LEAD understand that these duties could be performed by outside workers for less than $10 an hour.  However, LEAD voted not to lower their contracted pay rate.

"I feel there's a major disconnect between the LEAD vote and what is going on in the private sector," Stevens said.

Because the district's largest employee group would not agree to design changes in the D300 insurance plan, next year the district will spend more for insurance, and D300 employees as a whole will pay more for insurance.  An Insurance Committee, which included leadership from all employee groups, had met for months to collaboratively develop ways of changing the district's insurance plan to become more cost-effective and accountable.  Their recommendations would have saved the district $1.3 million.

For example, the Insurance Committee recommended ending the policy that if a husband and wife both worked for the district they receive 100 percent coverage.  However, this recommended change was protested by some of the affected LEAD members.

To their credit, not all LEAD members voted "no" against concessions.  The division became stark in the days just before the LEAD vote this week.  A handful of teachers sent emails to all school staff members, trying to sway the union vote one way or the other.  One email sent Monday morning to all staff by a retiring teacher alleged that, "district wide we are supporting two superintendents ... and a general ballooning of district administration."

This teacher's statement is incorrect.  This summer, Michael Bregy will replace David Scarpino as Associate Superintendent.  Sarah Kedroski will replace Valorie Moore in charge of professional development; Kedroski will also have some operational duties.  There will be no additional layers of administration in 2010-2011 than there were in the 2009-2010 school year.  In fact, due to Board layoffs, currently there are 98 administrators in D300 and next year there will be 96.  According to a Northwest Herald analysis of area school districts, D300 administrators are not only paid less than the state average, but also less than the regional average.  Additionally, per the 2009 State Board of Education report card about our district, D300 administrators carry a 19% larger load of students than the state average, meaning D300 employs fewer administrators than most other districts employ relative to their student enrollment. 

In response to that teacher's district-wide email Monday morning, another LEAD member sent the following to all school staff members: "Maybe we should stand united with the community and what they have given to us. Please take a look at the perception that we are creating. Maybe if we would have sacrificed concessions at earlier stages in past years those 133 teachers would have still had their job."

Board President Stevens cited this stark division among LEAD members, and the resulting "no" vote, as a communications problem between union leadership and its members.

COST OF SALARIES & BENEFITS NEXT SCHOOL YEAR (2010-2011)

vs. THIS SCHOOL YEAR (2009-2010) *

Administrators                                     -  4.1 %  (reduction of $360,000)

DESPA (secretaries / custodians)         -  4.5 %  (reduction of $542,000)

Non-union, non-management              -  4.4 %  (reduction of $138,000)

DESA (paraeducators)                         +   4.5 %  (increase of $353,000) **

LEAD (teachers / certified staff)           +   6.0 %  (increase of $4.4 million)

* For employees retaining their jobs from this year to next year.

**  The DESA contract was already in place; it covers years 2008-2013.

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