School Board Releases Its Notes of NFT's Verbal Proposal

Since the school board has yet to receive the , the board has chosen to release the details of the proposal "in order to keep negotiations moving forward."

According to an update from the school board, as of the August 29 verbal offer the NFT is still demanding that all terms and conditions of the 2002 collective bargaining agreement [CBA] be included as the basis in the next contract with no changes, unless otherwise proposed.

In the six-year contract proposal, all current bargaining unit employees will be moved four years forward and placed on step, with educational credits; the NFT estimated the total cost of this to be $7.2 million. The cost of step movement for school year 2008-2009, 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 is estimated by the NFT to cost $5.3 million of the $7.2 million. The NFT is recommending that the district reimburse employees in 12 equal payments $441,666 or $1,766,664.00 per year for three years 2008/2009, 2010/2011 and 2011/2012.

The NFT proposes the following salary adjustments that would be additional to the above costs: 

• 2008/2009 zero percent
• 2009/2010 zero percent
• 2010/2011 1 percent plus steps and education credits and board analysis confirms this to translate to 3.1 percent
• 2011/2012 2.75 percent plus steps and education credits and board analysis confirms this to translate to 5.34 percent
• 2012/2013 3 percent plus steps and education credits and board analysis confirms this to translate to 5.30 percent
• 2013/2014 3.50 percent plus steps and education credits and the board confirms this to translate to 5.5 percent.

Retirement health insurance would only cover the employee and his or her spouse, not a dependent, after 15 years of service. Retirees would contribute the same percentage toward health insurance cost as those currently working in the district. In addition, the NFT wants to freeze contribution rate to a flat rate of 8 percent of current costs with no future increases.

The NFT wants to keep current health plan with a few modifications. The prescription plan would be the same as the current plan with no single source clause. Self insurance would be acceptable to NFT.

The retirement cash payment is currently $27,500 with a 10 year service requirement. The retirement incentive would be changed to a 20 year requirement to qualify. The new amount is  $20,000 plus $1,000 each additional year of service past 20 years, but will max out at $ 25,000.

At the August 29 negotiation session, NFT leadership  NFT President Louise Boyd said in a statement following that negotiation session that the proposal would be put into writing in the following days for the school board to review.