Teachers’ union OKs concessions

WEBUTUCK — The North East Central School District Board of Education and the Webutuck Teachers Association (WTA) union reached a last-minute agreement before the Monday, April 11 meeting. The union agreed to salary concessions for the 2011-12 school year on the condition that no union teaching positions be eliminated. The deal exempted positions that would not be filled after a retirement.The late timing of the agreement was illustrated when the board went into executive session for 15 minutes at the beginning of the meeting to discuss “breaking news,” according to board President Dale Culver.When the board returned, the first speaker in the meeting’s public comment session was WTA Chair Nancy Gagne, who read from a prepared statement. She said the union was keeping the students in mind throughout this year’s difficult budget process.At previous board meetings held this month and in March, the board had faced criticism for a number of proposed reductions to staff and programming. Culver said that this budget year was the first year in which cuts were being considered solely because of the district’s financial situation.In a previous interview, Culver said that the board was negotiating with the district’s collective bargaining units (the teachers’ union and the civil service union) for a one-time freeze in the step salary ladder. According to their contract with Webutuck, teachers receive salary increases through step increases related to the length of time spent at the district and through contractual raises. The agreement the board and the WTA reached will only affect the step increase for next year.Discussions with the civil service union are continuing, Culver said at the meeting. Earlier in the day on April 11, Civil Service Employees Association leader Barbara Riley said that she had no comment other than that her union and the board were “still in the talking stages.”The news of WTA concessions were met with a round of applause from the board and the number of teachers and parents in the audience.“I want to express thanks to the teachers’ union for working cooperatively with us,” said Culver, “and continuing discussion even when it seemed like we weren’t gaining ground. It also demonstrates that when the board is firmly in support of the direction we’re going, good things happen here in the community.”Board Vice President Joe Herald explained that due to the last-minute nature of the news, the board had not yet finalized the details of the budget that included the union’s concessions. Culver said that he anticipated the board would adopt a budget for voter approval at the April 19 meeting.“The teachers have made our life about a million times easier tonight,” Herald said. “We have been trying to get to a place where we were happy [with the financial aspect of the budget] without severely hurting our program.”