School Board Narrowly Approves New Teacher Contract

With a single vote Tuesday night, the Saucon Valley School Board brought to an end more than three years of often-contentious negotiations and approved a new six-year professional contract for the district’s 180-plus teachers.

The professional agreement was included in the agenda for the meeting, which is posted online on the school district website (see p. 92).

Saucon Valley School Board members discuss a contract proposal for the district’s 180-plus teachers prior to a vote Tuesday night.

The vote in favor of it was far from a mandate for teachers, however, with the board split 5-4.

“We’ve gone too far as a board” in terms of compromising with the Saucon Valley Education Association–the union that represents the teachers–board member Bryan Eichfeld said.

He criticized the agreement in comparison to an earlier, less costly “bottom-line proposal” that the board floated in February and later withdrew.

“That February offer was beyond where I wanted to go, but I thought it was something we could get along with,” Eichfeld said.

He also criticized the contract approved Tuesday for its extension of what he called a “golden parachute” retirement incentive for teachers, and said its overall cost is “untenable.”

Eichfeld–who is the sole Hellertown borough resident on the nine-member board–noted that “Hellertown has the highest millage rate in the Lehigh Valley.”

Board member Susan Baxter was also outspoken in voicing opposition to the deal.

“I don’t think we’ve met each other half way,” she said. “I just think this agreement is far too costly and we’re going to be paying for this for many years to come.”

Baxter said she thought the contract would be approved in part because the board had become “worn down,” and like Eichfeld, she criticized the retirement incentive, as well as continuing to fund health care coverage for retired teachers on top of a pension plan that pays them 88 percent of their annual salary at retirement.

Along with Baxter and Eichfeld, board member Jack Dowling and board president Mike Karabin voted against the deal.

Karabin said he had heard opposition to it from his constituents, but regardless of the outcome, he said he was hopeful that such a protracted impasse can be avoided in the future.

He pointed out that since approval of the contract is more than three years overdue, negotiations toward the next one will begin in a scant two-and-a-half years.

Eichfeld said he hopes merit-based pay for teachers will be included in discussions about the next contract, because in spite of a high ratio of excellent teachers in the district, there are some who “are just punching their (time) cards.”

The board members who voted in favor of the contract were generally less strident in their remarks about it than those who voted against it.

Sandra Miller said the new contract–which runs through June 30, 2018–“achieves many goals” such as higher starting salaries for district teachers, and increases in the teacher-paid share of healthcare premiums and deductibles.

Ed Inghrim–who was a member of the board’s negotiating committee–said he was tired of the negotiation process and felt it is “time for this district to move on.”

“I support this contract,” said board member Ralph Puerta. “Let’s make it work for the district. That would be the best thing we can do.”

Some highlights of the new contract include:

• Retroactive pay for the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years (teachers will accept a pay freeze for 2012-2013, similar to what other district employees agreed to accept)
• Salary benchmarks that were revised downward from those included in an arbitrator’s non-binding recommendations issued in August (see table, below)
• An increase in premium share from $45 per month for single coverage to $80 per month for single coverage and from $95 per month for family coverage to $190 per month for family coverage by June 2018, when the contract term ends. In-network deductibles will increase from a $250 single deductible to a $500 single deductible and from a $500 family deductible to $700 family deductible by the end of the agreement. Office visit co-pays will increase from $15 per office visit to a range of $20-$40 per office visit.

Over the six-year term of the agreement, salaries will increase as follows: 

• Starting salary (Step 1) from $44,232 to $50,882 
• ​Maximum salary (Step 14) from $93,072 to $98,097
• ​Average salary on the schedule from $65,105 to $70,943

Few residents attended the meeting, and only one addressed the board prior to the remarks that were made by individual board members preceding the vote.

“Are our taxes going up?” Gordon Gress of Lower Saucon Township asked, before noting that he understood the board can’t “answer (that question) yet.”

Gress also asked what percentage of teachers live in the Saucon Valley School District.

Baxter said she thought it was about 25 percent, but then qualifed her response, saying the actual figure is “less than that.”

The board previously said about 17 percent of district teachers are also residents.

On the Saucon Source Facebook page, reaction to the news that a contract had been approved was mixed, with some readers expressing relief that the process was finally over–and presumably, that the threat of a teacher strike had been averted–while others criticized the board majority for not fighting on.

District superintendent Dr. Monica McHale-Small–who became superintendent in the midst of the contract strife a little over a year ago–struck a conciliatory tone with her comments prior to the board’s vote.

She said she recognizes that the negotiating process has been “draining” and “taken a toll” on the board, teachers, students, parents and the community at large.

However, “there are many, many good people in this community,” she said. “I have tremendous confidence in our teachers… We are going to make great progress.”

What do you think of the new teacher contract in the Saucon Valley School District? Tell us by posting a comment.