School Board Narrowly Votes Down Teacher Contract Offer Extension

The Saucon Valley School Board Tuesday night narrowly voted down a motion that–if approved–would have conditionally extended the board’s Feb. 26 “bottom line” contract offer until midnight April 15 and given teachers an opportunity to vote on it when their union meets Wednesday.

The 5-4 vote on the motion to extend the offer was as follows: Jack Dowling-NO, Charles Bartolet-NO, Michael Karabin-NO, Susan Baxter-NO, Ralph Puerta-NO, Bryan Eichfeld-YES, Sandra Miller-YES, Mark Sivak-YES and Ed Inghrim-YES.

The board voted to reject the extension in spite of being presented by parent Jennifer Altemose with 150 petitions signed by residents urging them to give teachers a chance to finally vote on the contract offer Wednesday.

Altemose said that in the frequent back-and-forth discussions about a new contract, the public has heard from everyone except “the rank-and-file teachers.”

The original deadline for teachers to vote on the Feb. 26 offer was Friday.

Last Wednesday, Saucon Valley Education Association chief negotiator Rich Simononis said teachers had “a few concerns” about that offer, including some language it contained.

Then on Friday, Simononis requested a five-day extension of the deadline in order to schedule a full membership vote on the offer on April 15.

That request was rejected by a 2-1 vote of the board’s negotiating committee, and the reasons for the rejection of it were subsequently outlined in a statement issued by school board attorney Jeffrey Sultanik.

If approved, the extension the board rejected Tuesday night would have borne the following conditions:

• A secret ballot vote on the contract offer to take place at Wednesday’s Saucon Valley Education Association meeting
• Recommendation to union membership by SVEA bargaining team representatives and Simononis that the Feb. 26 contract offer be approved. School board solicitor Mark Fitzgerald cited an April 10 email to a state mediator as “evidence” that the possibility of this recommended approval had already been communicated.
• Communication of the results of the vote (both for and against) to the state mediator, district superintendent Dr. Monica McHale-Small and school board attorney Jeffrey Sultanik within three hours of the vote Wednesday.

The petition Altemose presented sought to bring an end to nearly three years of sometimes divisive contract talks that she said are now negatively impacting the district on a daily basis.

“It is our belief that we are arguably closer to resolution than we have ever been over the last three years,” she told the board.

“The teachers have indicated that they want to vote (on the Feb. 26 offer) as well,” she said. “The teachers themselves have circulated their own internal petition, that is being presented to their leadership tomorrow.”

Altemose said 50 teachers had managed to sign the petition while on “PSSA lockdown” Tuesday, with nearly 100 percent signing it in support of a vote on the Feb. 26 contract offer.

She also said it is her belief that if given the opportunity, many more district residents would have signed the petition she and five other parents created Friday.

“These petitions were developed and gathered over less than two days,” she said. “They are still coming in… My email is packed. It is my belief that if we had more than two days, we would have many, many more.”

After the meeting, Altemose declined to comment about her reaction to the ‘no’ vote, stating, “I think we’re still at a critical point. I know things could happen… I think it’s between the union and their leadership now.”

“I will say on the record that the parents that I represent still want the union to vote on the Feb. 26 contract offer regardless of whether the board didn’t extend the deadline,” she added.

The text of the petition Altemose circulated under the group name “Concerned Citizens of Saucon Valley” reads as follows:

I am a resident of Saucon Valley School District and am currently 18 years of age or older. I support the following statements, and petition the Saucon Valley School Board and the Saucon Valley Education Association to consider and approve these requests:

1. On Feb. 26, 2015, the SV School Board, through the state mediator, presented a proposed contract to the SV Education Association (SVEA). The deadline to vote on the proposal was April 10, 2015. The SVEA requested a five day extension, to April 15, 2015, to vote on the proposal. The request for extension was denied by the SV School Board negotiations team.

2. I request that the SVEA be given an extension to April 15, 2015 to vote on the Feb. 26, 2015 contract proposal.

3. I request that the SVEA conduct a vote of its membership on April 15, 2015 on the contract proposal of Feb. 26, 2015.

4. I request that the outcome of the vote be communicated to the SV School Board and the public by April 16, 2015.

5. I request no further delays be requested by either party and that the vote by the SVEA on the valid Feb. 26, 2015 contract proposal take place on April 15, 2015.