Happy Summer, folks!
Below is a copy of the ratification letter that will go in the mail to you soon. The letter will be accompanied by a copy of the proposed salary and supplemental scales, along with a post card. Please mark your vote on the card and drop it in the mail to us as soon as possible. We must receive your vote by July 17 in order for it to count.
Thanks for all your support this year.
For Your Consideration-
Tentative Agreement on Negotiated Agreement for the 2008-2009 Contract Year
On June 23 your LNEA negotiating team reached tentative agreement with the board’s team regarding the terms and conditions of your employment for the 2008-09 contract year.
Below is a summary of the changes that have been tentatively agreed to and require your approval. These changes to the contract are a package and will not take effect until teachers and board vote to ratify this agreement.
Enclosed are salary and supplemental scales, as well as a post card for you to vote in favor of or against approval of the negotiated agreement. Please mark your vote and drop this card in the mail as soon as possible. The card must be received by July 17.
* Increase salary an average of 4.5% (increase of $600 to base pay plus step and level movement, if applicable). No additional contributions to health fringe.
* Increase elementary planning time from 220 minutes per week to 250. Minimum 20-minute blocks of time.
*Decrease total number of contract days for teachers from 189 to 186.
*Increase total number of teacher work days (no meetings) from 4.5 to 5 (1.5 days at the beginning of the school year, 1 day at the end of first, second and third quarters, and at least a half day at the end of the fourth quarter).
*Retain binding arbitration of grievances.
*Retain current early retirement benefits, but form a committee to study a phase-out plan that will possibly replace the current policy with a 403b retirement plan contribution.
*Allow mid-year lateral movement on the salary schedule for completion of a degree by Jan 1. Raise goes into effect for the last 6 months of the contract (March paycheck).
*Increase the teacher work day from 7 hours 45 minutes to 8 hours. The additional 15 minutes will be devoted to student instruction. Before/after school teacher time will total 60 minutes, to be split (before/after) by building administration, but time before/after may be no less than 25 minutes (25/35, 30/30 or 35/25).
*Build in a minimum of 2 days for inclement weather (Two days could be missed without having to make up any time. The third day would be the scheduled 4th Monday in April, and that would be a holiday if not needed to make up time).
*Add Occupational Therapists and Speech Therapists to the special payment schedule for extended duty day (same as School Psychologists and Social Workers).
*Eliminate requirement to attend/conduct Open House in the fall; only one Back to School Night, to be held no later than the 25th student contact day.
*Eliminate Article 35, Staff Development, which requires training in the Instructional Model within the first two years of employment.
*Maintain current definition of parent conference days: no more than 2 consecutive days, with conference time not to exceed 11 hours and teachers not being required to work more than one day in excess of 8 hours.
*Adjust definition of high school subject areas (regarding teacher load) to reflect current terminology for vocational and computer classes.
*Adjust deadlines for request for lateral movement (June 1) and submission of transcripts (Sept. 20). Pay increase will not occur until October paycheck, but will be the full raise divided by 11.
*Move current rate of pay for teacher substituting for another teacher (.ooo8 of base pay) from Article 8 to the supplemental pay schedule.
*Improve resignation policy to require waiver of resignation fee if a suitable replacement is found.
*Strike language allowing pay to occur at the end of the school year for combining classes when a substitute is not available (pay will occur monthly, as other substitute pay occurs).
*Add paragraph to teacher contract that reads: “Failure by the teacher to maintain teacher certification in the State of Kansas will constitute grounds for cancellation of this contract.”
*Add language to the teacher contract that clarifies pay will occur on the 20th of the month or the workday prior to that if the 20th is a non-banking day.
*Establish a separate contract for supplemental duties.
*Establish non-working days for 08-09 and 09-10 school years:
08-09
Sept 1 – Labor Day
Tues, Nov 11 - Veteran’s Day
Wed-Fri, Nov 26-28 - Thanksgiving
Sat, Dec 20-Sun, Jan 4 – Winter Break
Jan 19 – MLK
Feb 16 – Presidents’ Day
March 16-20 – Spring Break
April 10 – Good Friday
April 27 – Off unless needed for makeup
May 25 – Memorial Day
09-10
Sept 7 - Labor Day
Nov. 11 - Veteran's Day
Nov 25-27 - Thanksgiving
Dec 19-Jan3 - Winter Break
Jan 18 - MLK
Feb 15 - Presidents' Day
March 15-19 - Spring Break
April 2 - Good Friday
April 28 - Off unless needed for makeup
May 31 - Memorial Day
* Add librarian and counselor evaluation tools to the appendix of the negotiated agreement.
If you have questions or comments, please e-mail:
lneanews@gmail.com
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Settled! Ratification Vote to Come by Mail
Your LNEA negotiating team reached tentative agreement on the terms of your contract, including the negotiated agreement, for the 2008-09 school year.
In a nutshell, we've tentatively agreed to adding $600 to the base, which works out to be an average 4.5% increase. We've agreed to add 15 minutes to the student day, which means we will be working an 8 hour day instead of a 7 hour 45 minute day. In partial compensation for adding the 15 minutes, we also have tentatively agreed to reducing the total number of contract days from 189 to 186, building in some additional inclement weather days, and converting one half day of inservice at the beginning of the school year to additional "work day" time. Work days, uninterrupted by meetings, will occur at the following times: 1.5 days before school begins, 1 full day at the end of first, second and third quarters, and at least one half day at the end of the school year. There will be no increase in the board's contribution to the health insurance fringe benefit.
Elementary planning time has been increased from 220 minutes per week to 250 minutes per week minimum.
We've retained binding arbitration of grievances in the negotiated agreement, and we have retained the early retirement program, but have agreed to form a committee to study the possibility of phasing out the program in favor of an alternative program that perhaps would involve mutual contributions to a 403b. But for now, the early retirement policy has been retained.
There are other changes involving deadlines for lateral movement, supplemental increases for speech pathologists and occupational therapists.
More details and a complete list of proposed changes will be mailed to you early next week. We will send you a summary of all proposed changes to the negotiated agreement, a proposed salary and supplemental schedule, and a postcard for you to vote in favor of or against ratification. We need you to mark your vote and drop it in the mail to us as soon as you can.
The team recommends ratification.
Thanks to all who expressed their support as we worked through the negotiations process this year. We truly appreciate all your efforts.
As soon as you get your ratification information in the mail, if you have questions, please email us at lneanews@gmail.com
In a nutshell, we've tentatively agreed to adding $600 to the base, which works out to be an average 4.5% increase. We've agreed to add 15 minutes to the student day, which means we will be working an 8 hour day instead of a 7 hour 45 minute day. In partial compensation for adding the 15 minutes, we also have tentatively agreed to reducing the total number of contract days from 189 to 186, building in some additional inclement weather days, and converting one half day of inservice at the beginning of the school year to additional "work day" time. Work days, uninterrupted by meetings, will occur at the following times: 1.5 days before school begins, 1 full day at the end of first, second and third quarters, and at least one half day at the end of the school year. There will be no increase in the board's contribution to the health insurance fringe benefit.
Elementary planning time has been increased from 220 minutes per week to 250 minutes per week minimum.
We've retained binding arbitration of grievances in the negotiated agreement, and we have retained the early retirement program, but have agreed to form a committee to study the possibility of phasing out the program in favor of an alternative program that perhaps would involve mutual contributions to a 403b. But for now, the early retirement policy has been retained.
There are other changes involving deadlines for lateral movement, supplemental increases for speech pathologists and occupational therapists.
More details and a complete list of proposed changes will be mailed to you early next week. We will send you a summary of all proposed changes to the negotiated agreement, a proposed salary and supplemental schedule, and a postcard for you to vote in favor of or against ratification. We need you to mark your vote and drop it in the mail to us as soon as you can.
The team recommends ratification.
Thanks to all who expressed their support as we worked through the negotiations process this year. We truly appreciate all your efforts.
As soon as you get your ratification information in the mail, if you have questions, please email us at lneanews@gmail.com
Monday, June 16, 2008
Rats! We're not quite there. Next meeting Monday, June 23, 10am, BOE
We were very hopeful that we could settle today, June 16, but after LNEA presented a counter-proposal to the package presented by the board's team this morning, the board's team said they preferred to call it quits for today, and schedule another session for 10am Monday, June 23.
The good news is that the board's proposal this morning included a 30-minute per week increase in elementary planning time! If this part of the proposal is approved, the minimum minutes required would change from 220 to 250 minutes per week.
We are still trying to settle the issue of how many contract days we will work (less than 189) if we are going to add 15 minutes to the work day. In conjunction with that, we are still talking about how many snow days will be built in, and what the salary and fringe benefit increase will be. The board's proposal this morning offered no increase over their last offer, which was a $500 increase on the base, and zero increase in health fringe benefits. This represents just over a 4% increase (average).
There are other changes to the contract that have been tentatively agreed to, but all that will be spelled out later, after we iron out these final issues.
Many thanks to Kelly Berry and Robin Crim who attended this morning's session to support us. We appreciate their efforts. We hope to see you at the session next Monday. Regardless of that, we will keep you posted. Keep thinking positive thoughts for us, and we'll all hope we can settle next week and get on with our summer.
Linda, Ginger, Betty, Kay and Shad
The good news is that the board's proposal this morning included a 30-minute per week increase in elementary planning time! If this part of the proposal is approved, the minimum minutes required would change from 220 to 250 minutes per week.
We are still trying to settle the issue of how many contract days we will work (less than 189) if we are going to add 15 minutes to the work day. In conjunction with that, we are still talking about how many snow days will be built in, and what the salary and fringe benefit increase will be. The board's proposal this morning offered no increase over their last offer, which was a $500 increase on the base, and zero increase in health fringe benefits. This represents just over a 4% increase (average).
There are other changes to the contract that have been tentatively agreed to, but all that will be spelled out later, after we iron out these final issues.
Many thanks to Kelly Berry and Robin Crim who attended this morning's session to support us. We appreciate their efforts. We hope to see you at the session next Monday. Regardless of that, we will keep you posted. Keep thinking positive thoughts for us, and we'll all hope we can settle next week and get on with our summer.
Linda, Ginger, Betty, Kay and Shad
Monday, June 2, 2008
We're Getting Close!! Next Meeting, 10am Monday, June 16.
Contract negotiations began at 10am Monday morning (June 2) and ended at 4pm. The day began with a set of counter-proposals from LNEA, then the board’s team took a 3-hour caucus to craft a counter-proposal. We took a long lunch to discuss the possibilities, came back to the office at 1:30 and heard their counter-proposal. We took about a 45-minute caucus and presented another counter. The board at that point suggested that we schedule another meeting for 10am Monday, June 16, to give Kevin Gullett an opportunity to attend a school finance workshop in Topeka. Kevin is hoping he will learn how to squeeze a few more dollars out of the budget for teachers, so we believe it’s to everyone’s advantage to wait.
Here’s the good news:
**The board has dropped its proposal to do away with binding arbitration of grievances.
**The board has also dropped its proposal to do away with the early retirement policy by 2010, in favor of our suggestion to form a committee to study the possibility of a phase-out program that would keep the health insurance benefit intact, and shift the current 5-year payout to a 403b contribution to occur during the teacher’s employment.
**We have tentatively agreed to add 15 minutes to the teacher work day for the purpose of lengthening the instructional day and building in some inclement weather days. (We have also tentatively agreed that this is enough time built in so that the first 3 days missed would not have to be made up.) In trade for working the additional 15 minutes, the length of the teachers’ contract will be reduced from 189 to 186.5 days. In addition, there will be some kind of salary increase yet to be determined. The board’s last offer was ever so slightly more than 4%. We aren’t finished discussing the salary increase.
**Several stipends have been added to the supplemental pay scale, the most significant of which is a tentative agreement to add speech pathologists and occupational therapists to the list of those who are paid for a 30-minute extension of the duty day (just over $3k). This is currently extended to social workers and school psychs. More on the other additions to the supplemental scale later.
We have tentatively agreed to several minor changes to the negotiated agreement – changes in deadlines for application for lateral movement, changes in how the actual physical contract looks, an addition of a separate contract for supplemental duties, as well as a minor change in wording to the evaluation policy and inclusion of the evaluation tools used for teachers, counselors and librarians to the appendix of our agreement.
Here’s what we’re still working on:
In addition to continuing to work on salary, we are also still trying to hammer away at increasing elementary planning time. Non-working days for the 09-10 and 10-11 school years are yet to be determined as well.
Please know that we are continuing to work for a better contract for you, and we will meet at 10am Monday, June 16 at the board office. You are welcome to attend. We appreciate your company.
If you have any questions, please email us at lneanews@gmail.com.
Here’s the good news:
**The board has dropped its proposal to do away with binding arbitration of grievances.
**The board has also dropped its proposal to do away with the early retirement policy by 2010, in favor of our suggestion to form a committee to study the possibility of a phase-out program that would keep the health insurance benefit intact, and shift the current 5-year payout to a 403b contribution to occur during the teacher’s employment.
**We have tentatively agreed to add 15 minutes to the teacher work day for the purpose of lengthening the instructional day and building in some inclement weather days. (We have also tentatively agreed that this is enough time built in so that the first 3 days missed would not have to be made up.) In trade for working the additional 15 minutes, the length of the teachers’ contract will be reduced from 189 to 186.5 days. In addition, there will be some kind of salary increase yet to be determined. The board’s last offer was ever so slightly more than 4%. We aren’t finished discussing the salary increase.
**Several stipends have been added to the supplemental pay scale, the most significant of which is a tentative agreement to add speech pathologists and occupational therapists to the list of those who are paid for a 30-minute extension of the duty day (just over $3k). This is currently extended to social workers and school psychs. More on the other additions to the supplemental scale later.
We have tentatively agreed to several minor changes to the negotiated agreement – changes in deadlines for application for lateral movement, changes in how the actual physical contract looks, an addition of a separate contract for supplemental duties, as well as a minor change in wording to the evaluation policy and inclusion of the evaluation tools used for teachers, counselors and librarians to the appendix of our agreement.
Here’s what we’re still working on:
In addition to continuing to work on salary, we are also still trying to hammer away at increasing elementary planning time. Non-working days for the 09-10 and 10-11 school years are yet to be determined as well.
Please know that we are continuing to work for a better contract for you, and we will meet at 10am Monday, June 16 at the board office. You are welcome to attend. We appreciate your company.
If you have any questions, please email us at lneanews@gmail.com.
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