The Herricks Board of Education and the union representing 62 teaching assistants have scheduled their first meeting with a mediator from the Public Employee Relations Board for Feb. 2 according to Superintendent of Schools John Bierwirth.
Bierwirth said Monday the two sides have had no further discussions since they reached an impasse in November on the union contract and agreed to bring in a mediator to advise on the talks.
Bierwirth and school board President James Gounaris said at a November board meeting that talks to replace the contract, which expired June 30, had broken down.
“It was done jointly,” Bierwirth said at the time. “We lament that we have not been able to negotiate.”
Gounaris said that negotiations have been arduous due to the limitations of the district.
“As we have said before, we have nothing but appreciation and respect for our staff. Nevertheless, the fiscal climate, the tax levy cap and a number of other factors complicate negotiations and make it difficult or impossible to accommodate certain proposals. It was our hope that having tackled the tough issues with the other units, we would able to do the same with the teaching assistants,” Gounaris said during the meeting.
Negotiations between the board and Herricks Teacher Association, which represents the teaching assistants, have been ongoing since July. The Herricks board and the teachers association settled a four-year contract in June for 346 teachers.
“The two sides are far apart,” Bierwirth said of negotiations with the teaching assistants. “What the board wants and is willing to settle on is quite different than what is being asked for.”
“We are mindful of the fact that additional bargaining units will be up for negotiation in the coming months,” Gounaris said. “The board will respect the process and continue working toward a fair agreement with the assistants, while keeping in mind the financial constraints on the district and its taxpayers, as well as the upcoming contracts.”
Efforts to reach Herricks Teachers Association President Nidya Degliomini regarding negotiations with the teaching assistants were unavailing.
Degliomini, who succeeded Jane Morales as Herricks Teachers Association president last year, described the negotiations with the teachers as a “long and arduous task” with “a lot of give and take” – an assessment that Gournaris seconded.
Gounaris said in July the terms of the contract were hammered out in a marathon nine-hour bargaining session on June 19 that ended at 2:30 a.m. the following morning.
The school board and the teachers union had unsuccessfully attempted during sometimes acrimonious discussions to negotiate a modification of the teachers’ contract over the past three years as the district contemplated layoffs under the pressure of the state-mandated tax cap.
During that time, the Herricks board eliminated 63 teaching jobs in the district.
The contract calls for a wage freeze for 97 percent of the district’s 346 teachers in the 2014-15 school year and increases of 1 percent in each of the three successive years.
The teachers will also receive state-mandated “step” increases based on years of service in the first two years of the contract with the first increase going into effect in February 2015.
Teachers who have not received step increases for the past five years – representing 3 percent of the teachers – will also receive “step” increases in the first year of the contract.
The teachers’s previous contract, a five-year deal expired on June 30, included salary increases of 2 percent, 2.5 percent, and 2.75 percent in the first three years and 3 percent increases in the final two years. The new contract also calls for increases in teachers’ contributions to health insurance coverage.
In the first year, teachers would pay 20 percent of either individual or family coverage. The teachers’ contributions would rise to 21.5 percent in the second year, 23 percent in the third year and 25 percent in the fourth year. Retired teachers would have to pay the same percentage as active teachers.
The contract terms also include a $2,000 reduction in the starting salary for newly hired teachers in the district.
“We worked together with honesty and integrity. We were aware of the constraints the district was under with the 2 percent cap and the state mandates,” Degliomini said in July. “We wanted to maintain the wonderful school district we have.”
In March, the board reached a three-year agreement with the Herricks Association of Administrators and Supervisors for 24 administrators.
The contract was negotiated over three months between January and March 18, when the memorandum between the two sides was signed, according to Karen Hughes, president of the Herricks Association of Administrators and Supervisors.
Reach reporter Bryan Ahrens by e-mail at bahrens@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
