ll ail The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Thursday, June 13, 2002 Eontract (continued from page 1) of the state Labor Relations Board. The School District de- . mands that employees change to managed-care plans — forsaking the traditional Blue Cross/Blue Shield indemnity plan — or pay the difference in premiums. '_ “The district saying they are in dispute over the health care is a- red herring,” said Holland. @® ‘Because what the district is try- ing to do is to get the association to accept two tenths of a percent less pay than the fact finder rec- ommended.” Holland said he was ap- proached by Charles Boytin, president of the school board, and offered a deal to settle the contract, including the health gare issue, if the teachers would come down 0.2 percent from the salary recommended by the fact- finder. “What is wrong with this picture?” asked Holland. “The law doesn’t allow you to change the fact-finder report. You either have to accept it completely or reject it completely.” The state board released the report because — by law — it became public when one side @ accepted it and the other didn't. The Lake-Lehman School Dis- trict rejected the fact finder’s re- port although it is unclear if board members actually voted to reject it or rejected by default. In a, letter to the Pennsylvania La- bor Relations Board, Attorney ruce Campbell, chief Befoumer for the school district, said, “im- Li information from an in- “The district saying they are in POPE over the health car iS ¢ a red herrin dependent, source care” had not been provided to the district along with other un- specified information important to consideration of the fact-find- _ er's recommendations, resulting in the district's inability to ac- cept the recommendations. At- tempts to speak with Campbell or members of the school board were unsuccessful. “That is their weasel words to explain why they didn't vote,” said Holland. “The laws of this state require them to vote on a fact-finding report and they ne- glected those duties.” A fact-finder was called in when further advancement in contract negotiations could not be made. Lake-Lehman teachers have been working without a contract since August 2001, al- though contract negotiations have been going on much longer. In the report, given to the two sides on May 28, Mulligan wrote “many school districts are now demanding that their employees co-pay the premium, no matter what plan they choose. I cannot fault anyone for thinking that accepting a ‘lesser’ plan, paying some of the premiums, etc., is ‘giving back’ something that was on healthy y Atty. John Holland Represaning the. teachers freely given in the past. . I would prefer to think of medical insurance and the pay- ment, therefore, as a joint effort between management and the employee to provide the best benefit at the optimal cost.” Mulligan’s recommendation on health care is to form a joint committee to address the prob- lem, an idea that has been dis- cussed with both sides. The committee would have three teachers, one School Board member and two district admin- istrators. “But keep in mind, the teach- ers have done everything they can to save the district money on health care costs,” said Hol- land. “From agreeing to lesser health care for new employees to joining the health care consor- tium to making changes in the prescription plan, the teachers have bent over backwards to help contain health care costs.” In addition to formation of the committee, the fact-finder sug- gested the district provide teach- ers with more than three years of service their choice of the Blue Cross plan or a less expen- sive managed care program. Besides health care, the report addressed eight other sticking points. Mulligan gave little considera- tion to the initial salary de- mands of both sides the union sought a 5 percent-per- year increase, the district coun- tered with 2 percent. During a May 16 negotiation hearing, the district increased its offer to 2.5 percent and the union de- creased its demand by a quarter percent. Mulligan suggested a 3.36 percent average increase for the 2001-02 salaries, equating to about a $1,672 average. The 2002-03 salary increase would remain the same, equalling about $1,730, with the increas- es in following years set at 3.41 percent, 3.68 percent and 3.19 percent. Also discussed in the report: * No changes should be made to the collective bargaining agreement regarding the profes- sional development and educa- tional improvement of teachers. The district wants to tighten the rules on which credits merit reimbursement and which apply toward salary increases. The union is seeking an increase in tuition reimbursement and in the number of credits that can be reimbursed. * The fact-finder also recom- mends not changing contractual language detailing early-retire- ment incentives. Members of the education as- sociation want employees with 10 or more years of service to Cafeteria (continued from page 1) sdincrease in a la carte items at the high school. -9The increases come after the school district overspent its 2001-02 budget by more than @®: 000 Nutrition Inc. Spokes- woman Mary Philler said the deficit was a result of increased participation of approximately 30 meals above the budget in the elementary schools. The new contract will have the school district breaking even, she said. Paul Degillo, of Foreman | @ Burkavage, reported that the middle school renovation and addition project is approximately 57 percent complete, with Phase I of the project totally finished. Degillo said renovations to the library, auditorium, kitchen and second floor classrooms are un- derway, and the shell has been poured for the pool. In other business: * The school board and Shawn Murphy, representative from State Senator Charles Lem- mond’s office, recognized eight retiring teachers in the school district with plaques and gifts. * The board voted unanimous- ly to approve the submission of applications for Federal Funds under the No Child Left Behind Authorization Act of 2002, and further approve the school dis- trict to serve as the sponsoring agency to operate these pro- grams according to the guide- lines of the act, including a pro- gram offering supplemental reading instruction in elemen- tary and secondary schools; pro- fessional development, staffing and technology and education improvement and support ser- vices. e The board voted to appoint Berkheimer Associatés as the earned income tax and delin- quent tax collector the munici- palities in the school district, and entered into an agreement with Kingston Township for the collection of school taxes for the 2002-03 school year. ¢ The board honored the high school indoor color guard team, under the direction of Cassie Palfey, for winning the novice di- vision of the Atlantic Coast Championships. receive 80 percent of their final average salary upon retirement. The district wants to pay no ad- ditional benefits because re- tirees will receive an enhanced pension benefit and payment of their insurance premiums, e In their list of demands, teachers also asked for a limit on workloads and class size and that “past practices and mainte- nance of standards” be formal- ized as part of the contract. Mulligan, in her report, favored the district, which wanted no changes to be made. * The report leans toward the teachers regarding the retroac- tivity of teachers’ salaries. The union demands pay retroactivity to August 2001 — what should have been the start date of the new contract. Volunteers are hard at work collecting items for the 56th annual The Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction. The life of the library is a year-to-year propo- sition, and the auc- tion is crucial to its operation. Twenty percent of the annual budget comes from the auction. New Goods Red Barons private box For a date in July (specific date to be announced). $500 value, in- cludes 14 tick- ets. Donated by the Times Leader. Animal Gift Basket, $100 value. Donated by Chez Poochie. 56th Annual Library Auction Corner Any and all donations of cash or saleable items can help as- sure the continued fine service of the library to our communi- ties. For more information, call the library at 675-1182. David Hall has donated a magnificent drop leaf game table, Heisey can- delabras, a period-style mirror and cut glass vase with flo- ral arrang- ment in mem- ory of his wife, Kathryn. J" TER NEN SEN NEN EER NEN SED SEN SEN SEN SEN SEN ENN SEN SEN END NNN NNN SEN NE SEN SEN SEN SNE NE SEN NEN SEN RAN NEN SEN AN AEN SEN SS A Q I'll help the Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction Name Phone Address City State ___ Zip { | " f I I I I f t t 0 Here's a cash donation of $ I I I I I h | 9 a | have an item to donate. Call me for details. Value $ Mail or bring to: Back Mountain Memorial Library 96 Huntsville Road, Dallas PA 18612 Call 675-1182 if you have questions. Donations are tax-deductible. to help the library. This message donated as a public service by The Dallas Post Sutliff’ 5, BACK MOUNTAIN FURNITURE Lad — op — TS AAO 674-7858 ® Open 7 Days a Week ® Mon.-Thurs. 10-6; Fri. 10-8; Sat. 10-6; Sun. 12-5 8 Gun Cabinets | $499.00 Oak Light or Med. RECLINERS from $299.00 Rolltop Desk $299.00 Sofa ¢ Chair * Loveseat * Livingroom Sale OU WE Sy SA NE SR Sets Sofa & Chair $499.00 from Sofia & Love Sets from $699.00 LEATHER Sets from $999.00 Sutliff’s Back Mountain Furniture Rt. 118 @ Rt. 415 Dallas, PA ¢ W
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers