Falls Puts Bargaining Agreements in the Past

The Menomonee Falls School District has officially transitioned away from the world of collective bargaining agreements. After over a year in the making, the School Board on Monday approved the district’s employee handbook.

From now on, employee evaluations and pay scale measures will be set according to the district’s handbook rather than a bargaining agreement between the teachers union and the district. With the approval of the handbook come big changes for district employees.

Over the past year, district staff and the board have altered the employee retirement plan, health insurance transition, and the district’s compensation projects.

“Within the last two years, a lot of school districts have been transitioning from bargaining agreements into the handbook design and pay scale redesign,” said Superintendent Patricia Greco. “The board has actually been very actively involved in the process, and taking the year to do it was important.”

The district’s pay scale redesigns are among the most significant changes for employees. Moving forward, all employees’ pay will be established through a benchmarking and data-driven performance evaluation. Those benchmarks include job experience and skills, leadership roles, job duties, and market data.

By 2014-15, the district will transition to the State Educator Effectiveness Evaluation Model, which is performance measurement based on teacher performance, student performance, and teacher effectiveness. Results from the SEEEM will be combined with other measures to get a final rating for an educator.

“Last summer, there were a lot of districts where the fear level was high from the teachers. Having the year to vet the proposals without rushing it through was wisdom on the part of the leadership team and the board staff.”

The School Board made several revisions to the handbook Monday before voting unanimously to approve it. The handbook gives the board authority to choose dental and health insurance providers. The district has saved big bucks switching health care providers last year.

The district will still contribute the employer’s share of its Wisconsin Retirement System obligation. However, the School Board has also changed its post-retirement benefits for employees.

The School Board created a tax-sheltered annuity to provide employees payments upon retirement rather than health benefits. The change is expected to save the district roughly $6.2 million over the next 30 years, and $558,000 over the next five years.

The district added a provision that sick days can be borrowed in advance of employees earning their one per month in order to use their sick days for a medical leave of absence. However, the employee must agree that those days will be re-paid to the District if the employee does not return to work after the expiration of the leave.

The School Board also clarified some ambiguous language that was in the original draft of the document. 

“I think it’s a great document, and it will help people understand the spirit and the quality of the school district when they come to work here,” said School Board member Gina Palazzari. “We all know, it’s a work in progress. We can revisit it every year if something isn’t working and come up with something new.”