Pennsbury Releases Information On Tentative Contract Agreement

The tentative agreement the Pennsbury School Board has reached with its teachers’ union seems likely to gain approval from the governing board at a special Wednesday evening meeting. If approved, the deal would run retroactively from July 1 until June 30, 2021.

The district on Monday night revealed details on the contract proposal that could impact the roughly 850 members of the union, the Pennsbury Education Association (PEA), which includes teachers, counselors, nurses, social workers, librarians and psychologists.

Under the tentative agreement, there were significant changes to the language of the contract, a slight increase to employee contributions to their health insurance premiums, changes in tuition reimbursement and increases in the salary matrix that would see teacher raises.

Superintendent Dr. William Gretzula the negotiations team from both sides worked for months on the contract proposal.

According to Bucks County Courier Times reporter Chris English, the majority of the PEA membership voted in favor on the tentative contract. The school board will cast their vote on the contract proposal Wednesday during a special meeting at 7 p.m. at Fallsington Elementary School.

The tentative contract means all PEA members will get $1,000 raises year two through year four of the contract. Teachers at the top of the salary column scale could get a raise this year.

Under the proposed agreement, PEA members will see their employee contribution to healthcare premiums will increase from 12 percent to 14 percent in the last year on the contract. Gretzula said saving to the district will come from switching PEA members to a new health insurance plan, which will charge higher co-pays for specialists.

Gretzula said the new healthcare plan closely resembles the regional school district healthcare consortium health plan but allows for local control in future decisions.

PEA President George Miller rejected a district proposal to split the current members and new members on two different healthcare plans in favor of the plan the district hopes to switch too if the contract is approved.

The step salary matrix system the district uses was “thinned,” Gretzula said. He said the system was streamlined in the tentative deal and moves from 13 to 16 “steps.”

In addition, the district has rewritten portions of the contract’s language instead of carrying the wording over to the new contract. “The oldest child in our system wasn’t born when our contract language was last changed,” Gretzula said. The changes in the language pertain to student and professional calendars, professional after-school meetings professional staff absence policy, child rearing leave, tuition reimbursement and tuition recovery

As part of the language changes, the loss of three “trade days” by teachers means two extra student days will be added to the calendar by 2021, Gretzula explained. He also said there will be an additional back-to-school night at the high school-level starting next year. The number of staff meetings will increase from 13 to 17 and an additional IEP planning day will be built in the contract.

Gretzula said the new contract will allow Pennsbury to create a list of approved colleges and universities where teachers can take classes that will be eligible for reimbursement with taxpayer funds. He raised concerns that there are some mainly online “degree mills” that offer courses for educators that likely wouldn’t be the greatest benefit for students. The superintendent said there has not been a problem in the district but he wanted to ensure that the district is reimbursing teachers for “high-quality” courses.

In addition, teachers who leave Pennsbury after only a year or two and take part in the tuition reimbursement program will be required to pay back all or a portion of the cost to the district.

The teachers’ union did not make an official comment during the public portion of the school board meeting where the new tentative contract was laid out.

Lower Makefield resident Doug Marshall said the contract seemed reasonable but he did voice concerns over the amount of medical costs Pennsbury would be responsible for. He told the board the proposal should have an insurance co-pay structure similar to those who work in private industry.

Robert Abrams, a Lower Makefield resident and regular speaker at meetings, said he was disappointed the contract had no requirement for performance of teachers. He also spoke of the possible cost to taxpayers in the district.

Gretzula said he felt the tentative deal is “respectful and fiscally responsible.”

Lower Makefield resident Doug Marshall said the contract seemed reasonable but he did voice concerns over the amount of medical costs Pennsbury would be responsible for. He told the board the proposal should have an insurance co-pay structure similar to those who work in private industry.

Robert Abrams, a Lower Makefield resident and regular speaker at meetings, said he was disappointed the contract had no requirement for performance of teachers. He also spoke of the possible cost to taxpayers in the district.

Gretzula said he felt the tentative deal is “respectful and fiscally responsible.”