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CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) Two sticking points threaten to move members of the Valley City School board negotiations advisory committee and members from the Valley City Education Association toward an impasse.
The VCEA members agreed to drop their base salary request for incoming teachers from $1,500 to a $200 base. The second point was a salary step increase for teachers who received advance education degrees. The school board advisory committee does not appear to be willing to compromise on those two points.
But, VCEA spokeswoman Kathy Lentz says the salary step increase is in the negotiated agreement and could lead to a breach of contract if the school board is not willing to honor that clause. But, School Board Advisory committee spokesman Dean Koppelman says with the interim fund sitting at 6.5 percent he could not advise the board to approve any salary increases at this time.
Mediator Art Goffe, who represents the VCEA, asked Koppelman if there was another fund the money could be transferred from to honor the negotiated agreement. Koppelman said there was not.
Koppelman says the new school funding formula has backed his school district and others into a corner as funds are tied to a per pupil formula. He says school district’s like ours who lost students last year receive less money even though the funding is higher. Koppelman says the legislature needs to fix the school funding formula being the mil cap tied to the local property tax base was decreased in the last legislative session.
Both sides appeared to reach an understanding about a sick leave policy issue and a healthcare benefit policy procedure which mediator Gary Thune says could be resolved with a phone call to Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Koppelman says it tough to know how the healthcare benefit cost will play out once the federal Affordable Healthcare act is implemented.
But both sides say they will have to meet with their respective members to fine tune any tentative agreement discussed during the advisory meeting.
The 3-member, negotiations advisory committee mediators tried to resolve differences on both sides in the warm confines of a packed school board meeting room during a 3 and one-half hour meeting.
The negotiations advisory committee has 10-days from September, 4 to submit their summation of the meeting to the state, if no agreement is reached, a fact finding session will follow and an impasse will be declared.
