Schools

School Board And Union Discuss District Finances, Board Presentation

Negotiation teams for the school board and union met Tuesday evening and discussed district finances and Board President Ritchie Webb's November 22 presentation.


The negotiation teams for the Neshaminy School Board and Neshaminy Federation of Teachers met Tuesday evening in their 37th negotiation session.

According to a statement issued by the board, both parties met separately with the mediator as well as together across the table with the mediator. District finances and the , although, according to the board's statement, the most serious discussions took place in separate rooms with the mediator.

In the NFT's statement, union President Louise Boyd refers to Tuesday's negotiation session as "yet another wasted evening with the School Board."

Find out what's happening in Lower Southamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Having received a significant sweeping proposal from the NFT on November 1, 2011, the Board had no response to any aspect of our offer – except complete silence," Boyd continued.

"Thus, despite its very public protestations proclaiming its efforts to 'bargain in good faith,' the Board’s position at the table has remained virtually unmoved since the day we began this process over four years ago," she said.

Find out what's happening in Lower Southamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to Webb's November 22 presentation, which can be viewed on the district website, this NFT contract proposal would cost the district more than $29 million over the next three years and the board’s proposal would cost about $11.5 over the next three years. In that same presentation, Webb said that the district is in an "unprecedented situation" and that "there can be no middle ground."

According to Boyd's statement, the NFT presented "very detailed financial presentation" from American Federation of Teachers Director of Research Jewell Gould to the board.

"In that extensive fact-laden explanation, Mr. Gould demonstrated ready sources of money on which to begin closure of the many issues facing the parties," Boyd said. In regards to this information, Boyd stated the board did not make any comments nor did they ask any questions

According to Boyd, the union "then posed numerous questions to an obviously irritated Board regarding the alleged 'facts' within their PowerPoint presentation. Board President Webb explained, for instance, how he manually manipulated the PSSA scores to create his very own ranking system that the District Superintendent advises simply does not exist. After being pursued regarding other obvious shortcomings within that presentation, the Board suddenly refused to answer any more questions and terminated the meeting."

According to Webb's presentation, under the old contract, Neshaminy's PSSA rank in Pennsylvania dropped from 153 to 245.

Boyd's statement was posted as a comment on former board member William O'Connor's Facebook page, to which Webb replied by saying that Boyd "must have been at a different meeting. What she is posting is complete fiction." In addition, Webb reiterated that he would like to have televise and allow a reporter into the negotiation sessions.

Another negotiation session is schedued for December 14, 2011.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here