Update: Perkiomen Valley School Board Approves Teachers Contract

The Perkiomen Valley School Board unanimously approved a three-year deal with the Perkiomen Valley Education Association (PVEA) at Monday night's business meeting at the high school.

Board members Diane Landes and Capt. Sam Schweigert were absent, but participated in the meeting via conference call.

Earlier today, all of the present members voted today to accept the tentative agreement that had been reached Feb. 27, said media contact Garreth Heidt. PVEA Vice President Chris Albright attended the board's meeting to announce the union's approval.

The contract is retroactive to Sept. 1, 2010, and will end Aug. 31, 2013. Contract details--provided by district press release--include the following:

• Salary: Increases will be 2.56 percent for the current school year, representing a salary step movement only. Teachers at the top of the salary schedule during the 2009-10 school year will receive a one-time longevity payment of $850. The percentage increases for the second and third years of the contract, which include increment, are 3.2 percent and 3.35 percent. These figures mirror the recommendations in the independent fact finder's report.

An ad hoc joint labor/management committee consisting of four PVEA representatives and four district representatives will review and make recommendations regarding co-curricular (e.g. coaching position) salaries.

At the March 7 work session, Perkiomen Valley High School swimming coach Jack Graham and assistant coach Tom Komp addressed the board about their post-season pay, which is less than minimum wage, Graham said. He noted that Komp and he were speaking on behalf of themselves and not the Perkiomen Valley Education Association (PVEA).

According to the contract, Graham makes about $5 an hour, while Komp makes about $2.50.

Parents stepped forward to testify to the coaches’ long hours, positive impact on the student athletes, and their desire to see the post-season rates reevaluated.

Skippack resident Fran Weaver asked the board, “Don’t our coaches deserve more than $2 an hour?”

• Health benefits: Blue Cross Personal Choice plans and cost-sharing percentages are the following:
PC 215: Existing 10 percent employee contribution for the 2010-11 school year, 13 percent contribution for 2011-12, and 15 percent contribution in 2012-13
PC 320: 7 percent employee contribution in 2010-11, 9 percent contribution in 2011-12 and 10 percent contribution in 2012-13
Employees also may also pay up to the PC5 plan.

The district will stop offering Keystone HMO coverage July 1, 2011. The premium shares for health benefits on the core PC213 plan will remain unchanged from the fact finder's recommendations.

The superintendent and PVEA president will continue to research future options for health care cost containment.

• Tuition reimbursement: Teachers will receive $600 per credit until June 30, 2011; afterward, it will decrease to $500 per credit. Superintendent Dr. Clifford Rogers must pre-approve courses and programs in order for reimbursement to be granted.

Having reached an agreement regarding the teachers’ contract, another piece of the preliminary, proposed 2011-12 budget will be in place. However, several expenses still need to be trimmed, and Gov. Tom Corbett’s recent proposal to slash state funding for education is a concern.

In the Intermediate Unit Report, “among the proposals made by the governor was the elimination of state subsidies for intermediate units. That would mean MCIU would lose approximately $227,000,” said board member Randy Bennett. “If you divide that evenly among the school districts within Montgomery County, that’s about $98,000-$99,000 per district that would have to be made up.

“Unless something that happens to change that situation from the governor’s address … that will be a situation that we have to face in the future.”

At the finance committee meeting, potential budget cuts for future presentations were discussed, Bigelow said. Those include building budgets, attrition, self-funded medical participation, delaying technology implementations, elimination of student agendas and handbooks and elimination of some standardized testing (e.g. Terra Nova).

The board also approved participating in the demand response program. Solicitor Brian Subers recommended including a revision—that this would be subject to an annual review and re-authorization of the school board.

In a “broad” definition, according to the website “How Stuff Works,” “demand response programs give us—residents, commercial and industrial consumers—the ability to voluntarily trim our electricity usage at certain times of the day (such as peak hours), during high electricity prices or during emergencies (such as preventing a blackout).”

According to “How Stuff Works,” “Companies called aggregators are stepping in to reduce (power) grid loads by collecting negawatts. A negawatt is a unit of power that is no longer needed, and aggregators sell them to regional Independent Systems Operators (ISOs) who use them to reduce to load on the specific part of the grid.”

In other business:

• Former Assistant to the Superintendent Barbara Russell was officially approved as the new assistant superintendent for the district. The vote was bookended by two other votes—one to create the assistant superintendent position, and the other to eliminate the assistant to the superintendent position. Business Administrator Jim Weaver sparked a few laughs when, promptly after the unanimous vote, he switched Russell’s nameplate with one listing her new position.

• Board members unanimously approved the Draft I version of the school calendar for 2011-2012. The board was presented with two options in the prior week.

In approved version, students’ first day of school will be the Tuesday after Labor Day, and teachers will come to school on Aug. 30 and 31.

• In the superintendent’s report, Rogers stated the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) on Tuesday will post graduation rates measured with the “cohort method”; it gauges how many students graduate on time.

• Negotiations are continuing for the food service, maintenance and custodian group, Board President Lynn Bigelow said. “At this point, both sides have exchanged proposals, and there is another meeting between the two parties scheduled for March 23.”

• All of the board members approved the consent agenda, which included approval of field trips, approval of leaves of absence and the family consumer science curricula, as well as the Trane proposal to rebuild four compressors at Middle School East for no more than $113, 803. Capital Projects Fund will pay for the work.

• There was a “lengthy discussion” with Athletic Director Larry Glanski at the policy committee meeting, concerning participation fees, Bigelow said. No recommendations have been made yet.

 • Student liaison Amber Gansz praised fellow student liaison Brandon Dietrich, who is selling bracelets made by Nicaraguan children as part of his senior graduation project. The money raised will go toward their town. “He was able to raise over $2,700; the highest amount raised by a school, which is very impressive,” Gansz said. “That’s an amazing feat.”

After the meeting adjourned, the board went into an executive session to discuss labor relations.