[Editor’s Note: Ms. Hamme is President of the Assn. of Classified Employees.]
The Assn. of Classified Employees negotiations team met with the School District’s representatives on Thursday, and we addressed the following items:
• Budget update — We requested information from the District under EERA that was not discussed at the table yesterday. Some information was supplied to us regarding administrative salaries and contracts on 5.4.11, but the District provided us with only partial information. Hopefully, we will receive the additional information when we meet with the District next Wednesday.
• The District presented us with two salary proposals. The first one was a combination of tiered salary cuts and 5 furlough days. We rejected this proposal and countered with a proposal for a one-year freeze to step increases. The District then brought us a second proposal for 8 furlough days. We are in the process of crafting a counter proposal.
• We finalized language for Article 6 – Agency fee.
• Our next bargaining session is scheduled for Wednesday. We will continue to discuss furlough days and our own counter proposals, of course. Additional components of our original proposal still to be discussed include vacation and transfer language and our interest in swapping MES for VSP vision coverage.
• Just a note: It has been publicly stated by more than one School Board member that our agreeing to the proposed number of furlough days would restore all of the jobs cut or reduced at Tuesday night’s special meeting. At yesterday’s meeting, however, we were made aware of several additional criteria the Board thinks they would have to take into consideration before restoration would take place. This, of course, is a huge concern for us. The District’s attorney will clarify the Board position on this issue and have an answer for us next Wednesday.
Signed,
Your A.C.E. Negotiations team, Debbie Hamme, Jackie Lee, Robert Gray III, Carol-Ann Goldberg and Marion Serra.
Ms. Hamme may be contacted at antiquer01@aol.com
