New round of talks scheduled

Representatives from the School Board and NFT will meet on Tuesday, November 1st at 6pm for further negotiations.

Clarification to yesterday's update

The following supplement to last night’s Board statement will provide clarification to the modified proposal put forth by the Board during yesterday’s meeting with the NFT.

After careful consideration of the cost factors involved, the Board offered to accept the insurance plan requested by the NFT, Customized PC-20/30/70, in exchange for a 15% premium contribution to be paid by the certified staff. The cost of this plan is actually less than the PC-20/30/70 plan the Board proposed on July 18th.

Assuming a 15% contribution by the teachers, the savings to the District is over $4 million for the first year, and will continue to yield significant savings every year thereafter. The 15% contribution would be consistent with the rate paid by all other district bargaining units, and existing retirees would be required to pay this contribution. Future retirees may obtain insurance coverage if they pay 100% of the premium.

The Board also offered to reinstate teachers for education credits not recognized over the past three years. The one-time cost of this expense will be approximately $2 million. Again, this is for education credits only, not service steps.

By recognizing education credits, the Board is looking to help the younger teachers in a way that will reaffirm our commitment to their valued service. Beyond this point, however, the Board will no longer recognize MEQ credits.

The combination of these two moves provides the NFT with some concessions they are looking for, and tax payers will benefit from the net-positive impact that will result from the much-needed savings from the high cost of health care premiums.

All other aspects of the Board's July 18th proposal remain in place.

This is just one step in the process to resolving this contract impasse, but it is an important development that we hope union leaders will share enthusiastically with their membership.

Board proposes changes to contributions, ed credits

Meeting #35 lasted 3 hours, 5 minutes. The two parties did not meet face-to-face but instead the mediator acted as a go-between.

After confirming it could not accept the NFT’s recent proposal, the Board proposed to accept the NFT’s requested health plan of choice, Customized PC-20/30/70, provided the NFT members contribute 15% toward their premiums. The board also proposed to pay column movement (education credits, not retro pay) bringing the certified staff up-to-date. With the estimated cost of compensating the younger teachers to be $2 million, the Board would use savings from insurance contributions to subsidize this added expense.

The Board is continuing to negotiate from its 7/18/11 proposal and is using that as the basis for its ongoing negotiations.

Once again the NFT has questions regarding cost projections. The mediator will meet with finance representatives from both groups to qualify the numbers.

No new meeting has been set at this time but one will be scheduled following the meeting between the mediator and the finance representatives.

NFT offers revised verbal proposal

Meeting #34 began at 6:45pm and lasted 2-1/2 hours. At the request of the state mediator, Board President Ritchie Webb and NSB attorney Chuck Sweet met with union leader Louise Boyd and NFT attorney Tom Jennings to review the findings of the AFT’s Washington, DC-based Research and Information Director. As this portion of the meeting ended, Mr. Webb reviewed the data with the rest of the NSB negotiating team while the representatives from the NFT took a 50 minute caucus before returning with a revised verbal proposal.

Mr. Webb requested the revised proposal be put into writing so that the information could be shared with the rest of the school board. The NFT indicated they would submit a written proposal sometime this week.

As has been Board practice throughout these negotiations, details of the NFT revised proposal will be shared with the public once it has been formalized in writing, and after the details have been vetted by the Board. Until that time, the Board will not comment on the contents of the latest counter offer.

Both sides agreed to meet again on Wednesday, September 7th at 6pm.

Talks remain civil but little progress reported

The 33rd session between the NSB and NFT earlier this evening lasted 2-1/2 hours. Board representative Ritchie Webb and attorney Chuck Sweet spent most of the evening in face-to-face discussions with NFT president Louise Boyd and their attorney, Tom Jennings. The state mediator was not present for tonight’s meeting due to a prior commitment.

Although there isn’t much progress to report, the dialogue between both parties remained civil and direct. Once again the NFT had no counter to the Board’s July 18th proposal. No concessions were made by either side this evening and no tentative agreements were reached, but Mr. Webb did confirm the top priorities including reiteration of the Board’s position that there would be no retroactive pay.

Conversation focused on health care, contributions, retirement perks, longevity, and other financial issues. The union acknowledged they are now using the assistance of an AFT (American Federation of Teachers) representative from their research and information service department to help analyze the numbers. The NFT also acknowledged that the step costs reported by the Board at last week’s meeting were more accurate than theirs, but further refinement is necessary.

Another meeting has been set for Augst 29th, which allows the Board time to gather information requested by NFT relative to contract costs. The state mediator will be available for this meeting.

Talks yield some progress

Meeting #32 lasted for 2 hours, 20 minutes, and although there were no major breakthroughs, Board President Ritchie Webb referred to the meeting as "positive."

The NFT did not offer a counter proposal at tonight’s meeting, so the Board’s negotiation team asked to review its last proposal of July 18th with an emphasis on the costs of the proposal and the savings that would be necessary to approach an agreement. Mr. Webb stressed that we do not want a contract we cannot afford.

The mediator indicated the NFT wanted to be placed on the salary steps they would have received in accordance with their previous proposal. The NFT believed the cost of this move would be $1.2 million. This differed significantly from the Board's estimate which placed the costs in excess of $4.8 million for the 2011-2012 school year. Further review of this topic is needed.

It is important to note that this was not a new proposal but rather a review of the Board’s previous offer.

Both sides agreed more meetings were warranted, and the next session has been scheduled for this Monday, August 15th.

Proposal update

Below is a salary schedule that Mr. Webb sent to the mediator, Mr. Cairns earlier today. This is a supplement to the July 18, 2011 proposal to the NFT which details the salary matrix through 2014. Although the Negotiation Team advised the NFT that the proposed salary increase was 1% across-the-board, the Board only provided the salary schedule numbers for the first year of the proposal and wanted to verify the last two years before issuing them.

The next negotiation session will take place on Thursday, August 11th.

Board Proposal 71811 - First Year 2011-12 Salary Schedule v2