Burlington, S. Burlington school boards reject mediators' reports
Nicole Higgins DeSmetAs Labor Day approaches, school districts appear deadlocked over salary and benefit negotiations.
Burlington and South Burlington school boards rejected fact finders reports, according to Thursday evening announcements.
BURLINGTON
“The fact finder offered helpful analysis in some areas, which we will use as a basis for finding common ground,” Stephanie Seguino, negotiations chairwoman for the Burlington School Board said in a statement.
Ultimately Seguino concluded that mediator Michael Ryan’s July 17 analysis "departed from key economic realities at both the local and state level."
The Burlington Education Association issued a statement Friday morning in which union President Fran Brock said the fact-finding report issued by Ryan offered a path toward settlement that the board chose not to take.
“We are disappointed that once again the board failed to truly negotiate with an aim toward reaching a settlement that allows Burlington to attract and retain the best for the city’s children,” Brock, a Burlington High School history teacher, said. “[...] the board’s negotiating team clearly was not interested in using the report to forge a deal.”
Seguino wrote that Ryan's report contained factual errors using the example that Ryan's salary recommendation was based on "an erroneous assumption that the District increased the FY18 budget by 5.8 percent over the FY17 budget. The actual increase was 4.3 percent."
“We just don’t have the kind of money the fact finder suggested is available — at least not without cutting programs and reducing staff,” School Board Chairman Mark Porter said in the statement, explaining that the board doesn't want to have to implement reductions after several years of budget cuts.
The board said it offered the teachers’ union 1.75 percent in new salary money in a first year of the contract and 2 percent in the second year, which would give every teacher an average annual raise of $1,241 in the first year and $1,419 in the second year of a contract.
The complete fact finding report is available to view here.
SOUTH BURLINGTON
The South Burlington School Board rejected on Tuesday a fact finder’s suggestions, because it said the conclusions are not in line with goals expressed by the community during recent budget discussions.
The board seeks to modify the models used to determine salary compensation and benefits.
"The Board believes that our ability to maintain broad-based community support is significantly undermined when a fact finder believes the District’s largest single expense — compensation and benefits for staff — is driven more by the actions and
decisions of other school districts than by thoughtful, respectful and cooperative consideration of local school district priorities, needs and financial capacity,” Chairwoman Elizabeth Fitzgerald said in a statement.
South Burlington Education Association President Richard Wise on Thursday responded to the board's statement acknowledging disagreement with some of the recommendations made by the fact-finder, but said the union was convinced the report could help reach a settlement.
"The board’s assertion that salaries, benefits, and working conditions in surrounding districts are somehow irrelevant to our contract talks in South Burlington is absurd," Wise said in the statement explaining the union strives to maintain the high quality of South Burlington’s schools.
The board wrote that its compensation proposal to the union is built around current cost of living data (CPI), which as of June 2017 reflects a rising 12-month trend of just 1.6 percent, according to the Vermont Department of Labor.
“The Board is committed to maintaining the high quality of South Burlington’s schools while at the same time rethinking our approaches to salaries and benefits. Accomplishing this will require the support from South Burlington community voters, businesses, parents/guardians and teachers,” Board member Martin LaLonde wrote in the statement.
Wise invited the board to help the district heal from a very difficult year and hoped that the school year wouldn't begin with discord.
OTHER DISTRICTS
Essex Westford school board and teachers' union declared impasse on Wednesday and agreed to work with a mediator.
Two weeks ago, Milton's school board and teachers' union entered into a fact finding process.
According the Vermont Labor Relations Board, fact-finding doesn't take the place of negotiations. Indeed all parties have stated they want the process of collective bargaining to continue.
Across the state, about 20 districts have settled contracts, but there are approximately 60 districts at an impasse in negotiations, according to Darren Allen, Vermont-NEA communications director.
SBSD Statement Fact Finding 072717
Contact Nicole Higgins DeSmet at ndesmet@freepressmedia.com or 802-660-1845. Follow her on Twitter @NicoleHDeSmet.