Board frustrated by lack of progress at tonight's meeting

Meeting #66 Update

The Board entered tonight's session with a sincere sense of urgency to move the process forward, but we were disappointed by the NFT's apparent disregard for the situation and unpreparedness to tackle the important issues.

The parties met for more than three hours, however, there were no face-to-face talks as the mediator chose to conduct separate discussions. The Board conveyed to the mediator its desire to address the most significant issues separating the two sides, such as Past Practice, but when the mediator returned to the room after meeting with the NFT, he could only share the more trivial issues that union leaders were willing to discuss.

Recognizing our frustration, the mediator urged the Board not to pull its offer but rather encouraged us to agree to further sessions. After some consideration, the Board agreed to another meeting on February 6th, and again on February 13th, if necessary.

We remain convinced that the Board's final offer is in the best interests of the teachers and our students, and we hope the union leaders will allow the membership an opportunity exercise its right to vote on a settlement. However, if NFT negotiators continue to drag out talks without progress such as we saw this evening, then regrettably the teachers may never get that chance.

We feel for the Neshaminy community, its children and our teachers. And the Board continues to demonstrate its good faith by agreeing to further discussions with the NFT. We now look to union leaders to reestablish their commitment to ending this impasse.

Talks yield progress on three key issues

Meeting number 65 lasted more than 5-1/2 hours as representatives from the Neshaminy School Board and the NFT made progress on some unresolved contract language during last night's talks.

Three significant issues were addressed:

* Equal Voice language will be removed from the contract
* Requests for personal days will be made with 5 days notice, when possible
* The District's language on grade changes has been accepted

Language changes were agreed to as both sides acknowledged that teacher input is essential to the success of the school district.

Since both sides displayed a willingness to continue working towards a settlement, they agreed to meeting again next Thursday, January 24th at 6pm.

New meeting scheduled

At the request of the Director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Mediation, William Gross, the negotiation teams from the Neshaminy School Board and the NFT will meet next Thursday, January 17th.

We will keep you informed of any developments.

Impact of Board's offer on teacher compensation

So that our teachers and the Neshaminy community can understand the impact of the Board’s “Council Rock” offer, below is a link to a spreadsheet that provides information about teacher compensation if the Board’s offer is accepted.

The data contained in this sheet applies to the first year of the ratified contract only. The Board will release a spreadsheet for the subsequent years of the contract at a later date.

By offering both the financial terms and contract language of the Council Rock CBA, we are confident that our district can rise to the level of academic success achieved by our neighboring district.

We believe the generosity and fairness of our offer is something that the certified staff should eagerly accept, and we encourage union leaders to allow for an immediate direct vote of their membership.

Teacher Compensation Spreadsheet Under Board's Offer

Board releases details of "Council Rock" offer to NFT

Below are the written proposals given by the Board to the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers (NFT). This offer is modeled after the Council Rock collective bargaining agreement.

The offer was given to union leaders on the evening of Tuesday, December 18th, 2012. As of this date, NFT negotiators have not accepted this offer, nor have they put it up for a vote before the certified staff.

PDF of Board's Final Proposal to NFT Dated 12-18-12 (D714666)

Corrections to Board Final Offer (D716999)