Progress Made on Negotiations

LNEA's negotiations team has met twice with the Board's team.  We know salary is the item you're most interested in, so we'll start there. The BOE's latest offer is lateral movement (for college credits), vertical movement (one step) and an additional $200 to $350 on every cell of the salary schedule, as well a total of $400 per month toward premiums for those taking the district health insurance. This represents an increase of $95 per month for those on a single plan, $65 for those on the plus one plan and $10 for the family plan.

Our latest request was for an increase of over $800 in each cell and vertical movement for the year, plus an additional step for teachers who lost step movement last year. We've also asked for $475 per month for each teacher who takes the district health insurance.

On the supplemental salary schedule, the Board's latest offer is no changes.  LNEA had asked that the pay for Curriculum Committee work be increased $3/hour, that small stipends be paid to the sponsors of FCCLA (a required activity for CTE funding) and the POC Step Team, that the Color Guard stipend be increased to coincide with its increased appearances in the community, and that the title for the stipend for NCA Steering Committee be changed to reflect the fact that accreditation will not be through NCA next year.  The BOE's latest offer includes none of these changes.  In a previous proposal, they had agreed to some of them and proposed a tiny increase in the base for supplementals and a bigger increase in pay for school psychs, speech pathologists and occupational therapists.

On the article on Duty Day, we have agreed to establish some "zero hour" classes for which the teacher would start and end their teaching day earlier, but we still differ on one item. We have asked that high school teachers teach 5 classes per day instead of 6, to facilitate collaboration and improve instruction; so far the Board's team reports that they are not willing to make that change.

On Article 8, Teacher as a Substitute Teacher, the board proposed to remove the provision that a teacher could cover another teacher's class with principal approval, but they have agreed to settle for putting a limit of 8 on the number of times this can be used. It was never intended to be used in an ongoing fashion.

On Article 9, Teacher Files, both teams have agreed to a 30-day limit on the time allowed to attach a written response to a document that is placed in a teacher's file.

On Article 10, Grievance Procedure, the Board has proposed to remove access to binding arbitration. In these uncertain times, while Due Process rights are under litigation, an unbiased decision maker is especially important to teachers. For the same reason, we have proposed a new article on Fair Dismissal, that would guarantee due process. The Board's team says it will not entertain such a provision.

On Article 13, Suspension and Discipline, we have agreed to reduce the number of possible disciplinary actions to three (from four).  Because administration can start disciplinary action at any level anyway, we felt this was acceptable.  We have also agreed to allow suspensions longer than 10 days if a teacher has let their licensure lapse.

On Article 14, Resignation, both teams have agreed that if a resigning teacher remains in the position until a suitable replacement is found (no lapse of time between the teacher's last day and the replacement's first day) then the teacher will not be responsible for monetary damages to the district.

On Article 30, Calendar, these holidays have been agreed to:
Labor Day
Nov. 11 – Veteran’s Day
Nov. 25-27 – Thanksgiving
Dec. 23-Jan. 1 – Winter Break (Teacher workday Mon. Jan. 4)
Jan. 18 – Martin Luther King Day
Feb. 15 – President’s Day
Mar. 14-18 – Spring Break
Mar. 25 - Non-Working Day (Easter Sun. Mar 27
May 2 – Off unless needed for snow makeup
May 30 – Memorial Day

The next Negotiations Session will be held on July 11 at 9 a.m.

Submitted by your bargaining team:
Ginger Riddle, Leavenworth High School
Dennis Dickson, Leavenworth High School
Bryan Walker, Warren Middle School
Michelle Smalls, Henry Leavenworth Elementary