Pay raises followed health insurance concessions for new contracts with two unions in Schalmont Central School District.
The Schalmont Board of Education approved new contracts with the Schalmont School Related Professionals Association and the Schalmont Administrators Association on Thursday, June 23. Both contracts became effective on Friday, July 1. The SSRPA is a four-year contract, while the SAA is a three-year contract.
Board President Kevin Thompson said the salary increases for union members was reasonable when joined with union concessions.
We’re grateful they understood the difficult fiscal times we face and were willing to work with us to preserve services that help safely maintain and run our schools. That puts us in a better place for the fiscal challenges we’ll see in 2012-13, said Thompson in a statement.
The SSRPA represents support staff such as custodial workers, secretaries, food service staff, aides, monitors, bus drivers and mechanics. These union members received salary increases averaging less than 2 percent each year of the contract, inclusive of step increases, according to district officials.
The support staff union made concessions in health benefits, which include switching from a 7 percent contribution rate to 10 percent for current employees and 12 percent for new employees, according to district officials. It also agreed to eliminate a more expensive Empire health plan option, to change an HMO plan option with CDPHP to a less expensive EPO plan with the Capital Area School Health Insurance Consortium, and agreed to work to eliminate another HMO plan for additional cost savings.
Superintendent Valerie Kelsey applauded the new contract.
`I commend the SSRPA on working diligently with the district to find financial savings that would help maintain union members’ jobs,` said Kelsey in a statement.
The administrators’ union also agreed to move to less expensive, but comparable, health plan options and to increase the new member contribution rate from 15 percent to 20 percent, said district officials. It also eliminated a split life insurance plan option and agreed to create a merit pay schedule based on new state guidelines for evaluating principals.
District officials stressed these concessions were made as administrators’ workloads are increasing due to the recent elimination of several administrative positions and the addition of new state-mandated evaluation and reporting requirements. The union members will receive an average 1.25 percent salary increase each year of the contract.
Some non-unionized administrators have agreed to concessions, too. Kelsey is taking a salary freeze in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years. Also, Business Administrator Mark Kellet agreed to a 1.5 percent salary increase for 2011-12 and a salary freeze for 2012-13.
`I hope that these efforts and concessions will help Schalmont weather the changing environment and financial pressures schools face today,` said Kelsey.“