Neshaminy Teachers Request Court Help in Contract Talks

The Neshaminy School Board found out Friday that the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers had filed a request with Bucks County Judge Robert Baldi seeking his intervention in the contract talks for the second time.

According to Phillyburbs, the NFT filed a similar petition previously, but Baldi refused to bring the courts into the impasse. At that time, he said that if contract talks failed to lead to any progress in July, he would consider the motion if either side decided to request the courts' intervention again.

Since no progress has been made in talks throughout July, Phillyburbs is reporting that both sides will likely appear before Baldi once again on August 14, which is the date he previously set for another hearing on the matter.

“We have consistently tried to do everything within the law to move beyond this impasse,” union President Louise Boyd said to Phillyburbs.

“The board has more than 80 items that remain unchanged (in its offers) for the last four years. The school board is very comfortable growing its fund balance while having zero tax increase and cutting programs. They have no intention whatsoever to settle with us.”

Neshaminy School Board President Ritchie Webb said that while he is "not surprised" by the union's move, he is "disappointed by the hypocrisy of union negotiators as they claim it is the school board that is not negotiating in good faith."

"The last proposal from the NFT would have cost us over $21 million in the first year alone," Webb said.

"That increase is more than 12 times the taxing authority we are currently afforded under Act 1. Even if we raised taxes to the Act 1 limit, we would still fall short by nearly $20 million. We could slash every nonessential curriculum program in business, music and art, and still we wouldn’t have enough money. As if the costs of the NFT offer aren’t daunting enough, the union doesn’t even want to acknowledge the staggering $100+ million jump in Neshaminy’s PSERS contributions over the next 10 years," he stated.

In addition, Webb said that the union negotiation team's recent actions "demonstrate they have no desire to help us achieve an affordable, sustainable contract."

The union's lead negotiator, attorney Tom Jennings, has missed four of the last five negotiation sessions and Webb said that Boyd admitted on Facebook that "she arbitrarily skipped a recent session because she didn’t like how the meeting was progressing."

"The NFT can complain all they want that the board is being inflexible because when it comes to our students, we are inflexible. The bottom line here is simple and clear – we are trying to preserve, if not improve, our educational programs; the NFT’s contract demands will decimate them," Webb stated. He also said that considering the financial and education concerns confronting the district, it is "quite obvious which side isn’t negotiating in good faith. The board is trying to save a school district. The NFT is trying to protect the status quo."