School Board Presents Past, Present And Future Costs Of Teacher Contracts

At , board President Ritchie Webb gave a presentation on how much the teachers' 2002 contract has cost the district as well as what the would cost the district.

According to Webb's presentation, under the old contract, Neshaminy's PSSA rank in Pennsylvania dropped from #153 to #245. During this same time taxpayers paid $35 million to subsidize NFT retirement benefits and perks.

Between 2002 - 2008, paying for the teachers' contract led to a 31 percent increase in the district's annual operating budget while decreasing the savings fund by 67 percent, Webb said.

The NFT proposal will cost the district about $29.3 million through the 2013-2014 school year. The cost of the school board's current proposal is $11.6 million through the 2013-2014 school year, Webb stated.

However, not included in this is rising cost of Public School Employees' Retirement System [PSERS], which Webb said will cost Neshaminy and Pennsylvania taxpayers an additional $62.6 million through the 2020-2021 school year.

If the board accepted the latest NFT offer, paying for it would require increasing taxes to the Act 1 limit, depleting most of the reserves, and cutting programs, Webb said.

"Contrary to union leadership claims," Webb said, "the district does not have millions and millions of uncommitted funds just laying around."

"This school board will not repeat the mistakes of the past," Webb said.

The slideshow accompanying Webb's presentation can be reviewed here on Neshaminy's website.