By Alison Thompson
Staff Writer
The NFT bargaining team and the School Board engaged in face-to-face discussions on Jan. 17, where they discussed a list of 69 items created by the NFT that are unresolved or need clarification. The negotiation session lasted for five and a half fours and addressed, among others, three issues: equal voice, personal days and grade change language.
According to the Jan. 18 school board statement, “language changes were agreed to as both sides acknowledged that teacher input is essential to the success of the school district.”
In addition, both parties reached a tentative agreement through a state mediator on language that settles the debate over teacher voice on school committees, an issue that has been debated heavily in past weeks.
“We were absolutely unwilling to agree to anything that completely compromised the professional voice of our members in decisions that affect our students and our day-to-day work,” said NFT President Louise Boyd in a Jan. 17 press release. “The language we settled on clearly removes any reference to ‘equal say’ and makes it clear that the District had final decision-making authority, but it preserves the critical role of teachers in school-based decision-making.”
Maintaining a voice for teachers in decisions that affect educational quality, preserving enforceable limits on class sizes, and correcting unsafe or unhealthy conditions within the schools are all matters vitally important to the NFT.
“Board President Webb has assured us repeatedly that he recognizes and respects the meaningful input of staff in our District, and the language we ultimately agreed to is a reflection of that viewpoint,” Boyd said. “Now we hope to keep moving things forward.”
“Holding steady with our current contract means that NFT members will continue to be denied the pay and salary step adjustments which they have earned,” Boyd said. “But for now we will forgo those economic gains so that we can preserve policies and contract provisions that we believe are essential to the well-being and achievement of the kids in our classrooms.”
“It should be clear to anyone who has been following negotiations that this is no longer an economic dispute. For the most part, those issues are resolved. The Board has offered a reasonable salary package which teachers have helped make possible by offering sacrifices that add up to millions and millions of dollars. In fact, we’ve met just about every economic need identified by the Board.”
According to a Jan. 4 press release from the school board, the board believes that “by offering both the financial terms and contract language of the Council Rock CBA, we are confident that our district can rise to the level of academic success achieved by our neighboring district.”
Over 400 members of the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers met Thursday evening, Jan. 2 at Maple Point Middle School, where union leaders and bargaining team members presented the details of the latest contract offer from the School Board and reported on the status of contract talks and all options moving forward. The teachers decided not to vote on the offer at that time and expressed interest in continuing negotiations.
For more information you can visit the Neshaminy School Board and NFT websites, nsdboard.blogspot.com and nftcommunity.com, respectively. The next meeting of the negotiation teams from the Neshaminy School Board and the NFT will be Thursday, Jan. 24 at 6 p.m.
