By Solomiya Syvyk
News Editor

After several months of deliberation, the Neshaminy Educational Support Professional Association (NESPA) approved a new four-year contract with the school district on Oct. 24. Negotiations and talks had been going on since May, as the previous agreement expired June 30. In order to minimize costs, the district referred to the primary idea of outsourcing, a process that is included in the finalized deal, which otherwise has largely remained the same compared to the former.

Following approximately 100 members of NESPA vocalizing their concerns and petitioning for their jobs at a school board meeting in June, the contract was approved on Oct.28 with a vote of 8 to 1.

“From a district perspective, the new contract will help alleviate some significant resources – close to $1.5M in operation cost – that we can use for educational priorities while improving efficiency from a management perspective. From an employee viewpoint, we worked in concert to insure that as few as possible current employees were impacted by the changes, while providing incentives for those that are considering retirement,” school board member Mark Shubin said.

Up to 73 union jobs may be outsourced, with a total of 52 replaced from the categories of Transportation, Instructional, Custodial, and Non-Instructional Aides.

Every bargaining unit or NESPA member will be offered a one-time retirement inducement that includes for each employee who accepts the offer, 17.5 percent of their 2014-2015 base salary, placed into their retirement account. The individuals must give notification by March 1 and retire by June 30 to receive the compensation. If members refuse to take the retirement plan, the school district is entitled to lay off the workers until the total of 52 is outsourced.

The 33-page agreement states that the newest bargaining unit members will be laid off first; this practice will be used for each category. The remaining 21 jobs are to be filled with contracted services if they become vacant for any reason in any of the four categories.

On account of the food service program, the district is able to subcontract the operation, although this due will not be exercised before June; a 90-day bargaining period was instated.

Two levels of employees were established as well on the basis of whether the individual began working before, on, or after June 30; the Pre-Ratification Grandfathered employees and Pre-Ratification New Hire Employees are on one tier, while the Post-Ratification New Hire Employees are on another.

The latter is to receive considerably lower wages, medical-surgical and major medical insurance for only themselves; if full coverage is wanted, the difference must be paid in premiums. Pre- and Post-Ratification New Hires will receive 75 percent of applicable benefits.

A part-time employee must work for at least 30 hours to receive the benefits, with the exception of those employed before June 30, 1993–for whom 25 hours of work will suffice to be eligible. “When people are out we have to cover their hallways. There are no substitute janitors. We also got a pay cut for Black Friday. We can’t work or take a vacation day. It’s a reduction in our overall salary. In the end, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” custodian Kevin Huckel, who is in his tenth year of work for Neshaminy, said.

“It is my sincere hope that our new governor will find a way to work with the legislature to fix the educational funding formula, provide relief for the pension challenge, and deal with special education funding so that we can stop being so focused on cutting costs and start investing in our future. I would also like to encourage students that want to participate to generate ideas about how the district can improve efficiency and reduce operational costs. Send us an e-mail with your ideas,” Shubin added.