Towanda School District's Fact-finder's report released to public

TOWANDA - State-appointed fact-finder Alex A. Kaschock's report on the negotiations on a new contract for the Towanda School District's teachers shows there is a significant gap in salaries that the two sides are willing to accept.

The report, which includes Kaschock's proposed teachers' contract for the district, was made public on Friday, when it was posted on the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board's website.

Kaschock's proposed teachers' contract was rejected by both the teachers and the Towanda Area School Board earlier this month.

However, under state law, the two sides are required to weigh in again on whether they accept the proposed contract.

No less than five days and no more than 10 days after the report is made public, each side must again inform the PLRB as to whether or not it accepts the fact-finder's proposed contract.

If the two sides accept the contract, it is binding and becomes the contract to which both parties must adhere.

Kaschock's report, which was issued on Nov. 3, states that both the school board and teachers' union want a four-year contract that runs from Sept. 1, 2013 through June 30, 2017.

The school board is offering two options for salaries under the new contract, according to Kaschock's report.

Under one option, the school district's current salary structure - which gives teachers raises for advancing their education as well as "step" raises for longevity of service - would be abolished, and each employee would receive no raise during the first year of the contract and a flat 3 percent raise during each of the last three years of the labor agreement, according to the fact-finder's report.

Under the school board's second option, step salary increases would continue to exist, and the teachers would receive no salary increase during the first year of the contract, and 2 percent raises, which would include step increases, during each of the last three years of the contract.

Under the second option proposed by the school board, the school district's practice of giving raises to teachers who improve their eduction would continue to exist, but would be curtailed.

Under the previous contract, which expired on Sept. 1, 2013, each teacher's salary was determined by placing him or her on a chart containing 11 horizontal "steps," which are based on length of service, and 15 vertical columns, which are based on a teacher's educational achievement, according to the report.

Under the previous contract, teachers moved up a step every other year, which entitled them to a salary increase, said Stuart Karschner, a representative of the Pennsylvania State Education Association. In addition, each time a teacher moved between any the first four columns - which were Bachelor's Degree, Bachelor's Degree plus 12 credits, Bachelor's Degree plus 24 credits, and Master's Degree - he or she received a pay increase of $1,269. Advancing through any of the remaining columns, which continue on to the doctorate level, brought a teacher another $634.50 raise.

Under the school board's second option, the number of columns for educational achievement would be reduced to four - which would be Bachelor's Degree, Bachelor's Degree plus 24 credits, Master's Degree, and Master's Degree plus 24 credits - and teachers would receive either a $500 or $250 raise for advancing to another column.

Union's proposal

The Towanda Area Education Association is proposing that the teachers receive 3 percent raises during each of the four years of the contract, and the 3 percent raises would include annual step increases, Karschner said. The teachers are willing to reduce the number of educational achievement columns to 13, according to the report.

Under the union's proposal, teachers would continue to receive additional raises for advancing through the educational achievement columns, beyond their annual 3 percent raises, Karschner said.

A step increase costs the school district about a 1.8 percent increase in its payroll expenses, Karschner said.

The fact-finder's proposed contract includes no salary increase in the first year of the contract; payment for step movement plus an additional 2 percent raise in the second year of the contract; and 3 percent raises, including step increases, during the third and fourth years of the contract.

Kaschock would eliminate seven of the existing educational achievement columns, and make the difference in payment between each of the remaining columns $1,269.

The lack of a salary increase during the first year of the fact-finder's proposed contract was a big issue for the teachers when they voted to reject it, Karschner said.

Towanda schools Superintendent Steven Gobble has said the zero-percent raise during the first year of the contract stems from a position that the Towanda School Board has taken from the day that negotiations on the new contract began in January 2013. That position is that if the new contract was settled after the old contract expired, the school district would not grant retroactive raises to cover the period when no contract was in effect.

Therefore, under the school board's position, the school district will not grant retroactive pay increases to cover the year since the expiration of the old contract, which occurred in September 2013, he has said.

However, Gobble has also said that the school board's position on no retroactive raises is not set in stone, and could change.

As part of the new contract, the school board is proposing to cap the school district's total reimbursement to teachers for graduate- or undergraduate courses they take at $80,000 per year.

Under the previous teachers' contract, no cap existed on the reimbursements.

The teachers' union has agreed to limit the reimbursements to $140,000 per year, but wants to allow any unused funds to roll over to the following year, according to the report.

The fact-finder recommends a $120,000 annual cap on the reimbursements, and would allow unused funds to roll over to the following year.

Karschner had said in September that the two sides are "very close" to reaching an agreement on health insurance.

The fact-finder's report can be viewed at www.dli.state.pa.us/plrb.

The school board rejected the fact finder's proposed contract on Nov. 10. The teachers' union rejected the fact-finder's proposed contract on Nov. 5.

At an impasse in their negotiations over a new teachers' contract, the Towanda Area School Board and the Towanda Area Education Association agreed in early September to enter into fact finding.

Fact finding, which is an option offered under the state's Act 88 bargaining law, is a process where a third-party person is appointed by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board to forge a proposed new contract.

After being appointed as the fact-finder for the Towanda School District on Sept. 24, Kaschock met informally on Oct. 6 with both sides to discuss and clarify the issues in dispute, according to the report. Kaschock also conducted a hearing on the negotiations on Oct. 21.

Source: The Daily Review