Board of Education statement on contract compensation and languageBoard of Education statement on contract compensation and language

On August 9, the Board of Education for East Aurora School District 131 announced that the district and the union representing its teachers, support and office staff had failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement. Following that announcement, the union posted a statement on line claiming the District has not addressed all of their compensation and language issues. “That statement is incorrect,” said Board President Annette Johnson. “In fact, not only is the District proposal the richest in district history in terms of compensation, thereby making all employees more than competitive with neighboring districts, but the Board has also agreed, in full or in part, to over 80 language proposals made by the union. These range from changes to the grievance and discipline procedures, to tuition reimbursement, special education teacher release time, transfers, and evaluations. At the same time, the union refused to agree to staggered start times with District which would allow the duplicate use of school buses to transport students who are otherwise required to cross hazardous intersections.”

The District has posted both a Fact Sheet and a red-line copy of the contract (see PDFs below) on its website, to show the exact changes to each section of the contract,” Johnson stated. “It is a significant misconception to state that salaries are not guaranteed. The District agreed to eliminate its request for a wage re-opener in the contract. The District, as part of its commitment to keep its employees’ salaries competitive, will therefore absorb any cost increases even if there is a funding reduction from the State.”

“Another incorrect statement is that the District will have $66 million in new state funding to spend on salaries over the next three years. Our new state funding for fiscal 2017- 2018 was $12.4 million. The State Board of Education has just released new adequacy numbers and, because of a decline in enrollment for District 131, the District’s projected funding for 2018-19 is $8.1 million. No one knows what the appropriations might be for following years. Even assuming that the $8.1 million remains constant, it only equates to $24.3 million over three years, not $66 million. Moreover, the $12.4 million received during the 2017-18 school year was expended for various building maintenance projects. Had the district not had these funds, it would have faced a significant spending deficit at the end of the school year.”

“The union has not previously shared the Board’s proposal with its membership, including the significant increases in salaries that the District had offered. They are now looking for reasons to justify its refusal to endorse what is clearly the greatest commitment the Board of Education has ever made to teacher compensation and benefits. We believe a fair reading of the contract on our website will show that the District’s proposal has fairly and reasonably addressed every concern which the union has raised in over six months of meetings.” Johnson explained. “The Board’s proposal provides a most attractive offer to the union, while also safeguarding the District and its taxpayers.”

Finally, while the union claimed that class size was a problem by using a special education classroom with 30 to 40 students in it, they failed to note that the classroom was staffed by two full-time teachers. In addition, it does not make sense to spend time negotiating about class size when there is a bill passed by the legislature regulating class sizes that has been sent to the governor for signature.”

“We think any reasonable question as to the terms of the contract will be answered by reference to the posted proposal,” Johnson concluded. “The Board has done all that it can economically, and has addressed every issue raised by the union prior to the impasse. The Board is very aware of the importance and necessity to pay fair and competitive salaries to our valued teachers and staff. Yet as anyone associated with District 131 knows, it has many financial challenges, including raising the educational achievement level of our students, maintaining aging buildings, and protecting the interest of the taxpayers.

District Negotiations Fact Sheet

District Negotiations Fact Sheet -Spanish

Combined Agreement 2018-2021 final offer redline