Arbitrator Issues Recommendations in Saucon Teacher Contract Dispute

A state-appointed arbitrator Wednesday issued his report containing non-binding recommendations designed to help end the three-year-old Saucon Valley School District teacher contract dispute.

Timothy J. Brown, Esq., prefaced his 15-page report with two quotes–one by Ronald Reagan and the other by Nelson Mandela–which speak to the issue of compromise; a characteristic some observers on both sides would no doubt say has been lacking in the contract negotations thus far.

“The circumstance in which the parties find themselves demands courage and leadership; the courage to avoid the trap that often ensnares those who rationalize failure by insisting that their individual interests are paramount to those of others, and the leadership to appreciate that in giving a little on matters that may be important to their side, they may gain the far great benefits of an agreement,” he wrote.

Brown’s 15-page report includes recommendations in the areas of the proposed contract that have been most in dispute: salary, health care and graduate study reimbursement.

Other issues addressed in the report including personal days, extracurricular compensation, the length of the school year and the district’s retirement incentive.

Brown said in his preface that in crafting his recommendations he took into consideration comments submitted to him by members of the public; the public interest; the teachers’ interests; the “financial capability” of the Saucon Valley School District; past negotiations; cost of living changes; terms and conditions of employment for the district’s employees, as well as those of teachers and professional employees in other school districts; and evidence submitted to him by both sides in the dispute.

“The decisions/recommendations contained herein are made after careful consideration of all of the evidence and argument offered by the parties with the undersigned giving the utmost weight to the educational interests of the district’s students and the desire of the parties to reach an agreement,” he wrote.

Some highlights of Brown’s recommendations for a six-year agreement include the following:

SALARY

• 2012-2013 school year – No cost of living increase, step increase (a type of pay increase that is bestowed based upon length of service) or column movement (a type of pay increase that is earned by completing approved graduate level study). This one-year pay freeze was already accepted by the district’s other employees.
• 2013-2014 school year – A retroactive pay increase of $1,350 for each cell on the salary schedule, plus step increases and no more than one column movement (with a provision for using banked credits, which are defined as “any credits earned from completed courses–approved at any time by the district–and not previously used for column movement”).*
• 2014-2015 school year – A retroactive pay increase of $1,350 for each cell on the salary schedule, plus step increases and no more than one column movement.*
• 2015-2016 school year – A pay increase of 2 percent for each cell on the salary schedule, plus step increases and no more than one column movement using banked credits.
• 2016-2017 school year – A pay increase of 2.25 percent for each cell on the salary schedule, plus step increases and no more than one column movement using banked or earned credits, with earned credits being defined as “credits earned from courses completed after the ratification of this agreement that were approved at any time by the district.”
• 2017-2018 school year – A pay increase of 2.25 percent for each cell on the salary schedule, plus step increases and no more than one column movement using banked or earned credits.

HEALTHCARE

GRADUATE STUDY

*Per Brown’s recommendation, retroactive pay increases would be given only to employees who worked for Saucon Valley School District during the school years for which they are now eligible, and who are employed by the district as of the date of his agreement’s ratification.

Representatives for both teachers and the Saucon Valley School Board said Wednesday that they won’t have any comments about the recommendations until they have had time to review them.

“The (Saucon Valley Education) Association is carefully reviewing the thorough award of the arbitrator,” chief negotiator Rich Simononis said in a statement. “We will be presenting it to the faculty for a full vote on Aug. 27, 2015. We have no comment on the report at this time.”

He added that, “at this point the recommendations more than adequately speak for themselves.”

The school board’s attorney/spokesman Jeff Sultanik responded to the release of the recommendations in a similar fashion.

“No comment can be made at this point in time to the Arbitration Award as it has not been analyzed by either the district administration or the board,” he said.

“A costing of the impact of the Arbitration Award will be performed by the district administration and the board so that it can be analyzed in the context of where we stand in this process,” he added. “The Board of School Directors intends to publicly vote on this Arbitration Award at its Aug. 25, 2015, meeting.”

TELL US: What do you think of arbitrator Timothy J. Brown’s recommendations?