LNEA is pleased to announce that the board and teacher representatives of the negotiating team have reached tentative agreement as of today. We are happy that interest-based bargaining has resulted in an agreement that is as close as possible to optimal for teachers, administrators, and students in the tough economic situation where we find ourselves.

The process was collaborative and much less stressful than the old positional bargaining. Both parties contributed to brainstorming and generating ideas that could never have been discovered using the old method. We look forward to continuing this essential collaborative relationship as we embark on other school improvement issues.

Here are the proposed changes in the negotiated agreement:

Negotiated Holidays for 2011-12 (not this year)
9/5/11 Labor Day
11/11/11 Veterans’ Day
11/23-11/25 Thanksgiving
12/23-1/2 Winter Break
1/16 Martin Luther King Day
2/20 Presidents’ Day
3/19-3/23 Spring Break
4/6 Good Friday
4/30 Designated Snow Day
5/28 Memorial Day
No change in work days.

New Language for Parent/Teacher Conferences
Parent/Teacher Conference Days shall be scheduled on a Wednesday evening for four hours beginning one hour after the duty day ends and on Thursday from 9am to 9pm., with Friday being a day off for teachers. There will be no more than 2 consecutive days scheduled with conference time not to exceed 11 hours. Elementary (K-6) and Secondary (7-12) will alternate the A and B schedules below for fall and spring conferences.

Schedule A
Wednesday – Conferences 5pm-9pm
Thursday – Conferences 9am-5pm (1 one-hour break)
Schedule B
Thursday – Conferences 9am-9pm (2 one-hour breaks)

Out of district special education teachers will follow the conference schedule of the district to which they are assigned.

Shortened Contract Year for 2010-2011 Due to Construction
During the 2010-2011 school year, Leavenworth in-district staff will work 181 days and will return to 186 days during the 2011-2012 school year. This does not apply to out-of-district special education teachers.

Lengthened Contract Day for 2010-2011
Leavenworth in-district staff will work an 8 hour and 15 minute day for the 2010-2011 school year and will return to an 8 hour day for the 2011-2012 school year. This does not apply to out-of-district special education teachers.

Note that this extension of the school day applies only to student days. The 15-minute extension of each student day accumulates to approximately the 5 days that have been cut from the contract year.

Salary Increase
The proposal includes lateral movement for teachers who have accumulated enough hours to move to another level. It also includes an $840 increase for every teacher, which will be added to the "embedded compensation." There will not be traditional vertical movement on the salary schedule this year; however, the increase benefits all teachers, including those who can no longer move vertically and have gone two years without a raise. This equates to an average increase of 1.994%. Click here for the proposed salary schedule for 2010-11. (Please note that teachers are frozen on the salary schedule, except for lateral movement (i.e., to the right). All teachers will receive the $840 embedded increase as shown in this draft of the schedule.)

We need your vote by August 10!
Teachers, we ask you to open your school email and click on the link in our message to you in order to vote. (For security reasons we can't put the link here, where it's available to the public.) If you cannot open your school email, contact the tech center at 684-1530. If your password has expired, you will need to give them your employee ID number.

If you prefer to vote the traditional way, please email lneanews@gmail.com or call Ginger Riddle at 913-727-2617 to have a paper ballot mailed to you. (Your return mail will be completely anonymous.)

State law requires that at least 50% of all teachers (LNEA members and non-members) vote in order for the agreement to be ratified and for your pay increase to take effect.

Please vote by August 10!