District and Union Proposals for the Support Staff Contract

The Neshaminy School District has a valuable, hard-working support staff that includes custodial, grounds and maintenance workers, bus drivers, food service workers, secretaries and instructional aides. The staff, represented by the Neshaminy Educational Support Professional Association (NESPA), includes 270 full-time and 284 part-time positions. Full-time employees receive generous benefits that are very similar to the package that has been provided to certified teaching staff; part-time employees do not receive benefits. The NESPA contract expired on June 30, 2009, and the support staff has been working under the terms of the expired contract since that time.

While the Board of course wishes to support these hard-working employees, the same financial pressures that are causing us to ask for substantial changes in the teachers' contract apply to the support staff as well. Put simply, the District and its taxpayers can no longer afford to provide excessive benefits to this or any other employee group. To ascertain just how expensive these benefits are for full-time support staff, the Board has begun the process of investigating the savings that could be realized by contracting out some of this work to third parties. No final decisions regarding third-party contracting have been made.

A summary of the major proposals made by each side to date is provided below. Please note that the District positions discussed below are meant to describe the Board's current proposals, but should not be interpreted as our official position in the event of fact-finding or other legal proceedings.

Contract Length and Outsourcing
The Board proposal calls for a 3-year contract with an agreement not to outsource any work for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 contract years.

The Union has asked for a 5-year contract with no change to the language regarding third-party contracting.

Wages
The Board initially proposed 3% raises in each year. After further bargaining that involved a reduction in proposed employee contributions to health care premiums (see below), the Board prepared a counteroffer that included a reduction in the offered wage increase in the first year to help offset some of the increased health care costs the District would incur. The Board's current offer proposes annual wage increases of 1%, 3% and 3%.

The Union proposes annual wage increases of 0% in the first year (provided there is no employee contribution to health care premiums), 3.5% in each of the following 3 years, and 4% in the fifth year.

Medical Benefits
The base medical plan in the expired contract is Blue Cross PC-15 (the same plan that covers the teaching staff), with no employee contribution to premiums.

The Board initially proposed to change the base medical plan to PC 20/30/70 with 15%, 16% and 17% employee contributions over three years - these are the same provisions offered to the teachers' union, and which administrators and administrative support personnel currently have.

The Union did not accept the Board's offer, and after further bargaining, the Board's current offer is to change the base medical plan to Blue Cross C3-F3-O1, with employee contributions of 10%, 11% and 12% over three years.

The Union's proposal is to keep the PC-15 plan, with employee contributions of 0%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% over five years.

Prescription Drug Benefits
The drug benefit plan in the expired contract is Rx 5/20 with no employee contribution to premiums, and with a "single source" provision where brand-name drugs are offered with the lower generic co-pay if no generic equivalent exists. As we have stated with regard to the teachers' contract (which has the same provision), to our knowledge no other District provides this benefit for employees. District-wide the single source provision costs taxpayers over $1 million annually.

After the Union rejected the Board's initial offer of Rx 5/30 with no single source and 15%, 16% and 17% employee contributions, the Board has proposed to change the drug benefit to Rx 5/30/50 including a formulary, and to eliminate the single source provision, with employee contributions of 10%, 11% and 12% over three years.

The Union's proposal is to keep the current Rx 5/20 plan with continued single source and employee premium contributions of 0%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% over five years.

Opt-Out and Double-Dipping
The expired contract provides "opt-out" benefits whereby eligible full-time employees who choose not to participate in some or all aspects of the health insurance packages receive a share of the savings that the District realizes from not providing such coverages. There is a loophole in the expired contract that allows an employee whose spouse is also a District employee to receive these opt-out payments even though they are covered by their spouse's enrollment.

The Board proposes to eliminate this "double-dipping" provision. The Union opposes any change.

Retiree Benefits
Under the expired contract, eligible retirees and their spouses receive full medical, drug, dental and vision coverage until age 65 with no premium contributions. Eligibility depends on age at retirement and years of service. Retirees who do not meet the age or years of service requirements may remain in the group medical plan by purchasing coverage at District cost; in addition they are eligible to receive single prescription drug coverage at no cost until age 65, and may purchase family coverage at District cost.

The Board proposes to eliminate these retirement benefits, to be replaced with a provision allowing all eligible retirees to remain in the group medical plan at District cost. The Union opposes any changes to retiree benefits (except that retirees will be placed into the same base medical plan as active employees).

Emergency Shut Downs
Under the expired contract, when an emergency occurs and an employee is sent home before the normal shift is terminated, they are guaranteed pay for at least two hours of service for that day.

The Board proposes to eliminate this provision, and the Union agrees.

Job Elimination Wage Protection
Under the expired contract, if a position is eliminated and the affected employee is reassigned to another position that has a lower wage, then the employee does not receive any reduction in pay.

The Board proposes to eliminate this provision. The Union opposes any change to this provision.

Drug Testing
The Board proposes that each NESPA member be required to undergo a drug test at the District's discretion. The Union opposes this proposal.

Sick Leave
Under the expired contract, full-time employees are entitled to 12 sick days per year; eligible part-time employees are entitled to 4 sick days per year.

The Board proposes that sick days should no longer count as time worked for the purpose of calculating overtime. The Union opposes this proposal.

Work Rights for Employees Active as of June 30, 1993
Current employees who were active as of June 30, 1993 enjoy several "grandfathered" protections relating to insurance benefits, protection from reduction of regular work hours, part-time benefits, and personal holidays.

The Board proposes to eliminate these special provisions for such employees. The Union opposes changes to these provisions.


The Board has a strong preference to reach a comprehensive, fair agreement with its support staff employees without the need to outsource work. To that end, we believe the proposals we have made represent reasonable changes that will allow employees to continue to enjoy job security along with generous benefit provisions.

However, the Union's refusal to adequately address the above issues, related primarily to benefits for full-time workers, leaves us little choice but to continue to consider contracting with third parties as a partial solution to the financial challenges we face.

Elementary Back To School Night

Back To School night activities were held for the District's elementary schools on Thursday September 24. Despite being given notice that picketing is not permitted on school property, once again members of the NFT violated the law by picketing at the entrances to our school buildings. On a night that is meant to foster positive parent-teacher relationships, instead many parents were forced to "walk the gauntlet" through dozens of staff members wearing picket signs and handing out literature. The NFT's proclaimed concerns about "fair" negotiating ring hollow in light of their insistence on breaking the law in order to publicize their views.

The District's final Back to School Night activities for the year will be held next Wednesday, September 30 at Neshaminy High School. Once again the Board asks the NFT to respect State law and refrain from picketing on school property.

Support Union Update

The next negotiating session with the support union (NESPA) will take place on October 22.

Support Union Update

The negotiating session with the support union (NESPA) scheduled for September 17 has been postponed; it will be rescheduled in the near future.

Middle School Back To School Night

Neshaminy School District hosted its annual Back To School activities at its three middle schools on September 17, where parents attend "classes" hosted by their students' teachers. The NFT took this opportunity to hand out literature to arriving parents, proudly providing instructions on "how to negotiate a fair contract" and accusing the District of "failing to understand the basics of negotiating". A copy of the NFT's handout appears at the bottom of this post.

The Board's position from the beginning has been that many of the major provisions of the expired contract cannot continue to be supported by residents. Neshaminy remains the only district in Bucks County where teachers pay nothing toward their health care premiums, incur only generic co-pays for brand-name drugs, receive a large lump-sum cash payment at retirement along with a free health benefits package until age 65, and receive salary credit for enrolling in non-Masters Degree courses. In addition, Neshaminy teachers work fewer contract hours and have fewer steps before reaching the top of the salary scale than any other district. On top of all this, they are asking for annual 6-7 percent salary increases. It is important to note that none of these provisions do anything to improve educational programs for students in Neshaminy.

Unfortunately, the NFT has thus far indicated no willingness to address any of these issues, and with regard to health care coverage has explicitly stated that "paying for health care premiums is non-negotiable, and has been from day one". In this light, their accusation that the District is not bargaining in good faith and is unwilling to compromise rings very hollow.

As stated before on multiple occasions, the Board believes it has presented a fair contract proposal from the start of negotiations in January 2008, offering an average annual salary increase in excess of 3 percent while simply asking the NFT to negotiate contract terms that are similar to what every other District in Bucks County has. Since negotiations began, the nation has experienced its worst economic downturn in 75 years, many local residents have lost their jobs, and residents have seen their retirement nest eggs cut in half. In addition, District-funded teacher pension costs are expected to soar, and State aid to school districts is under severe stress as Pennsylvania deals with its own budget shortfalls. Despite all this, the Board has left virtually all of its proposals intact, and even offered to provide a more comprehensive health plan than its initial proposal.

We continue to hope that the NFT will recognize that "business as usual" is over in Neshaminy. The Board remains receptive to alternative ideas that address the above-mentioned issues, but we cannot expect residents to continue to fund salary and benefit provisions that are so far out of line with what everyone else offers.

Support Staff Negotiations

The Board and Neshaminy Educational Support Professional Association (NESPA) met at a negotiating session on Aug 26, 2009; the prior contract expired on July 1, 2009. The discussion focused primarily on health benefits. Another meeting is scheduled for September 17, 2009.

Administrative Support and Confidential Secretaries Agreements

The Board unanimously approved new contracts with the Neshaminy Administrative Support Association (NASA) and the District's Confidential Secretaries at a public meeting held on August 25, 2009. The new contracts, which cover 13 administrative support members and 8 secretaries, are three-year agreements that run through June 30, 2012. Both contracts are similar to the prior agreement reached with the District's Administrators Association (NSDAA), entailing annual raises of three percent, base health coverage under Blue Cross PC 20/30/70, employee contributions to medical and drug premiums of 15%, 16% and 17% over three years, and elimination of retirement incentive programs. The Board thanks both NASA and the Confidential Secretaries for their willingness to work with the Board's negotiators to help address the very difficult financial circumstances faced by the District.