The Neshaminy School Board and Neshaminy Federation of Teachers (NFT) have a tentative contract in place.
The school board followed in the footsteps of the 600-plus member teachers’ union to accept the third-party fact-finder’s report, which district officials said will become the new contract. The board voted 6-0 in favor of the deal with board members Bob Feather and Tina Hollenbach abstaining. Board member Stephen Pirritano was not at the meeting due to a family emergency.
Advertisements
Copies of the three-year contract between the district and its teachers’ union were not immediately available as district officials said they planned to release the fact-finder’s report Thursday morning online.
Superintendent Joseph Jones and Board President Scott Congdon both told reporters no more board votes are needed to make the contract binding. A spokesperson for the NFT said the fact-finder’s report now needs to be formatted into contract format.
NFT President Tara Huber, who was not able to attend the meeting due to a prior commitment, said in statement that she looks forward to working with the district to finish up the contract.
Advertisements
Middletown resident Deb Harker raised concerns that the public did not get an opportunity to review the fact-finder’s report and offer their input.
The outcome of the report will play a major role in determining how the district will spend its money and factor in tax decisions in the coming years.
Advertisements
“We’ll be putting it up tomorrow,” Congdon said of publishing the fact-finder’s report on the district website. He added that the fact-finder’s report was not released immediately due to the rules surrounding the process.
The contract, according to Congdon, will increase pay for teachers, especially ones who are newer and often at the lower end of the salary scale, and be retroactive to July 1.
“We are pleased the school board has accepted the fact finder’s recommendations, which moves us closer to reaching a fair and equitable contract,” NFT President Tara Huber said in a statement.
Advertisements
“Basically, we now have the foundation to move forward,” NFT Vice President Anne Schmidt said.
Before the vote to accept the fact-finder’s recommendations, Congdon said he felt the fact-finder’s report was fair but felt the district could have negotiated a better deal with the NFT before bringing in a third party. He said there was a “lack of realistic talks” from the NFT during negotiations and felt the teachers’ union could have done more to compromise.
Advertisements
Board member Marty Sullivan told Congdon the district should forget the past and focus on the fact-finder’s report.
Both union and district negotiators held eight face-to-face sessions before they entered the fact-finding process.
Advertisements
The most recent contract for the NFT was for one year and expired at the end of June. In 2015, one-year deal did not include a base salary increase and secured that teachers had adequate preparation periods.
Wednesday evening’s meeting was packed with NFT members and featured numerous speakers who urged the board to accept the agreement, which the union did last week. Teachers spokes highly of Jones and a “good vibe” in the schools this year.
Advertisements
Hollenbach explained why she abstained from the vote at the end of the board meeting. She stated while she believed the fact-finder’s report was fair, she didn’t feel that she received all the financial answers she was looking for.
When the board accepted the fact-finder’s report, the majority of NFT members in the room stood up and clapped. Upon leaving, one teacher was wiping tears from her eyes.
“I’m glad we’re moving in the right direction,” NFT Vice President Suzy Drake said. “Let’s have something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.”
