Neshaminy Board Approves New Contract

The Neshaminy School Board’s unanimous vote to approve a new contract for teachers drew applause from the crowd at Thursday night’s special meeting on the topic at Middletown’s Maple Point Middle School.

All nine members of the school board voted to ratify the contract, which gained the support of the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers (NFT) last week after their membership voted 487 in favor and 21 against.

School Board President Richie Webb said the new contract will “restore Neshaminy’s reputation” as one of the best school districts in the state.

“We have a contract that is based in reason and that is financially doable,” Webb said.

After the meeting, NFT Vice President Anne Schmidt said, “We’re ready to move forward.”

“After more than five years of difficult and sometimes divisive negotiations, we are thrilled to conclude this process with an agreement that enables everyone on both sides to refocus and recommit ourselves to strengthening our community as a place where everyone is proud to say I live and work and learn in Neshaminy,” NFT President Louise Boyd, who was only briefly inside the meeting room, said in a statement emailed to the press.

Read the full NFT statement on the contract approval 

The new contract does not featured retroactive pay, Webb stressed, and will be in the effect for the next two years.

Some of the key changes in the contract, as stated by Webb:

• Work day goes from 7 to 7 1/2 hours
• $27,500 one-time retirement payout is over at the end of the 2012-2013 school year
• Back to school night is now mandatory for all teachers
• Masters Equivalency certificates attained by June 29, 2015 will be honored
• Long-term substitute pool is gone by the end of the 2014-2015 school year
• School year for teachers goes from 188 to 189 days
• Free healthcare for teacher and dependents until the age of 65 (following 10 years of employment is the district) is gone for new staff
• Long-term sub pool is gone by June 2015
• Insurance op-out reduced from 39 percent monthly payout to $200 flat monthly rate
• MOUs go from 201 to 0 (less than a half-dozen were included in the new contract)

The 67-page deal is based on the Council Rock School District contracted signed by teachers in that school system in spring 2013.

Webb said at the meeting, which was attended by some members of the NFT, that the contract would save over at least $2.5 million.

“I do believe, in all honesty, that figure is higher,” he said.

PHOTOS: Neshaminy Graduates 687

Parents and taxpayers spoke out and praised Webb and the rest of the board for their efforts during the five-year contract impasse.

Former teacher and Levittown resident Ed Kern said the past years have been a “long straightening road,” but also offered thanks for a deal being made.

“I wasn’t sure this night was ever going to happen,” former board member William O’Connor said during public comment. O’Connor, who runs the Neshaminy Info discussion board, praised Webb for “captaining the ship” during the contract impasse.

Some residents thanked the board and urged caution going forward.

“We have to be vigilant, extremely vigilant, not to let the Trojan horse back in to our courtyard,” Charles Alfonso told the board, speaking of the NFT’s previous contract. The contract was among the most generous in the state, school board members have previously stated.

Through comments at the meeting and post-meeting statements, both sides made it clear their goal is to educate the students of Neshaminy.

“We will continue working alongside parents and other community members to maintain transparent and responsible governance of our schools,” Boyd said.

Richie Webb thanked the board’s legal team, members of the NFT, residents and the negotiating team.

“Without the help of the board and the negotiating team, I couldn’t have done any of this,” he said.

Toward the end of the meeting board member Mark Shubin congratulated the community on the agreement and called for the NFT to drop all pending arbitration against the district.

“In the end, this is about moving forward,” Boyd said, echoing comments made by members of the school board.

Related:

• Neshaminy Teachers Approve Contract Offer
• School Board’s Webb, NFT’s Schmidt React to ‘Tentative’ Agreement
• ‘Tentative’ Contract Agreement Reached in Neshaminy
• NFT Releases Statement on Contract Offer Vote
• NFT Votes Down Contract Proposal, Board President Says
• NFT President: ‘We Agreed to All the Financial Concessions’
• Board President Dispels ‘Unsubstantiated Rumors’ of Neshaminy Deal