Westhampton Beach School Board, Teachers' Union Agree On New Contract

The union representing Westhampton Beach’s teachers and the school district’s Board of Education have come to terms on a new five-year labor agreement, more than two months after the last contract expired.In the most comprehensive change of compensation policy since 2007, and the first of its kind since a state-mandated tax levy cap went into effect in June 2011, the Westhampton Beach Teachers’ Association has agreed to reduce annual pay raises for educators, restructure their salary schedules and contribute more toward the cost of health care in the coming years.The negotiating representatives involved—namely Schools Superintendent Michael Radday, Assistant Superintendent William Fisher, Teachers’ Association President Susan Kearns and several other union members—signed off on the memorandum of agreement outlining the changes on August 25, and the Board of Education approved that memo during its monthly meeting on Monday night, effectively locking in the new terms.“The board, in ratifying the memorandum of agreement, accepted the terms of the contract,” Mr. Radday said. “That’s the board’s formal approval of the contract, so from here the lawyers write up the official contract, I sign it, the board president signs and the president of the teacher’s association signs it.”The previous contract, which was actually a two-year extension of an accord reached in 2007, expired on July 1.Under the new contract, the district’s 177 teachers will receive no increase in salary for the 2014-15 school year, and receive an 0.75-percent raise next year, a 0.5-percent increase in 2015-16 and then another 0.75-percent bump in 2016-17. They will receive another 0.5-percent increase in 2017-18, the final year of the contract.Those raises are noticeably less than the 2-percent increases the teachers enjoyed during the past two years, as well as the 3-percent increases received prior to that.The salary restructuring, however, is not as simple, Ms. Kearns said Tuesday, explaining that during the negotiations the salary schedule was changed so that nearly all pay grade advancements come with the same dollar increase across the board. Under this system, almost every teacher who moves up a pay rate, or step, this year will see their salary increase by $2,615—save a few who are near their peak pay level. Previously, step increases were not uniform, meaning while someone might see their salary increase $3,197 one year and $2,655 the next, another employee on a different salary track might see increases of $3,416 and $2,527, respectively, for the same time.The idea behind this change, Ms. Kearns explained, is to make it easier for the district to budget salaries not just annually, but several years down the road.“It became willy-nilly, without reason and unorganized,” she said. “We were trying to make a salary schedule that was predictable and sustainable under the tax cap, and this is what we came up with.”The new contract also expands the number of steps from 20 to 25, so the total increases could be introduced slower.The union, meanwhile, also agreed to increase what teachers contribute to their respective health care plans from 15 percent—the rate its been at since the last major restructure in 2007—to 16.5 percent in 2015-16 and 2016-17, and then to 18 percent in 2017-18.Ms. Kearns said the deal was approved by roughly 93 percent of the 177 teachers in the district, with most favoring the plan because it is viewed as a sustainable counter to the tax cap, which requires schools to secure a super majority—or approval from at least 60 percent of voters—to approve a budget that pierces the tax cap. She said teachers would rather make these changes than face program cuts at the school.“Honestly, we were all concerned,” she said. “I’m sure the district was worried about how the teachers would respond, too. We did not want to have hard feelings or a difficult, drawn-out process.”In 2013, the Westhampton Beach Teachers’ Association and the Board of Education butted heads when the board asked educators to take a hard pay freeze so the school could stay under the cap without having to cut positions or programs. The union refused and the district had to lay off several teachers and eliminate two language programs.Mr. Radday said the district and the teachers were able to work together to avoid making any further cuts, adding that he’s hopeful that this contract will act as a model for future agreements.“Essentially, we worked productively with the Teachers’ Association to reach an agreement that allows us to provide the programs for our students while also making it feasible for our taxpayers,” he said.Still, one Board of Education member questioned just how sustainable any plan can be when confined to the tax cap, and further pressured by the requirements of the Affordable Care Act.Though he supports the changes under the forthcoming contract, Gordon Werner said he thinks that with surcharges and other projected health care expenses, it is going to be impossible to squeeze the necessary funds into a budget that adheres to the cap.“It’s not just a problem in Westhampton Beach, it’s statewide, it’s systemic,” he said. “We have a better idea of what the increase is going to be each year, so we can plan accordingly, but a 2-percent cap is not going to be sustainable.”