FPS Contract Negotiations Are Complete, However Resentments Remain

By Gordon HopkinsWhile a new contract was approved, the negotiation process between the Fairbury Public Schools Board of Education (BOE) and the Fairbury Education Association (FEA) to reach that contract have left lingering resentments.This year, FPS has seen more than two dozen teachers resign, although Superintendent Dr. Devin Embray is quick to point out that the majority of those positions have already been filled. Not About MoneySome of the teachers that recently resigned have stated publicly that they are not leaving because of the pay. One of those teachers is Dr. Emily Winter, who took issue with BOE bringing an attorney into the contract negotiations. She told FJN, “The negotiations struggle this year was not a disagreement about money, but about the unprecedented strongarm of restrictions against teachers and mandated negotiating with legal counsel at district (taxpayer) expense. Teachers were not fighting about increases to salary, but about long-term limits to their benefits.”One of the sticking points with the contract was Paid Time Off (PTO). Winter said, “FPS teachers have always been very mindful of district finances. This year, when BOE negotiators were pushing their six restrictions to teacher leave time benefits, FEA asked board negotiators to make an offer for less money without the PTO restrictions, confident that the staff would willingly take less money to not have such encompassing restrictions; the BOE negotiators were unwilling to entertain that offer. FEA has asked for zero-cost initiatives for the staff. FEA feels confident that they are operating reasonably within the fiscal means of the school district.”At a meeting of the school board on February 10, superintendent Embray said one reason for the board’s stance on PTO was student proficiency.“Not the right mindset,” said Embray. “The mindset of, well, we should just end school at our minimum hours and not go beyond our minimum hours, is troubling to me, because we have, like, 30 hours over our minimum hours. And I wouldn’t even consider an argument like that unless I looked at our proficiency scores and said, ‘You know what? We’re kind of leading the state in proficiency,’ and maybe we can back off on a day or two, you know, and not have to go that many days. But right now, we really can’t really afford to take away more contact with kids from full days over our minimum hours.” Contract NegotiationsWinter told FJN, “If you look at the negotiated agreement on the FPS school website, you will see that a paid lawyer, Bobby Truhe from KSB Law Firm, signed as the negotiating agent for the school district. Ultimately, I was willing to tolerate less competitive wages if I was given more professional respect than I received, and it was a culmination of a lack of support and value that led to my decision to leave the district and education.”This sentiment echoed one voiced by social studies teacher Amy Engle-Evans at a meeting on March 10, “The communication with Bobby Truhe at KSD was full of ultimatums and threats, which feels far more unprofessional than some tense conversations at the table.”However, at a BOE meeting of February 10 of this year, board president Angie Judd indicated the attorney was brought in because of escalating tensions during those first few meetings without an attorney present.“One of the things that I think that has led us to this point is that the tone that’s happening during negotiations between FEA negotiators and the board,” said Judd. “The first three meetings really escalated to become very unprofessional, and so, at that point, that’s really why we decided that legal counsel, it was time.” Comparability StudyComparability studies are often used when negotiating salaries to ensure salary levels are commensurate with similar positions in other areas. However, according to Winter, the FEA and BOE each use their own comparability study and they were significantly different.“Staffing is a significant budgeting expense for district finances. During negotiations, we look at the cost to the district, or how much it costs the district to pay for the salary and benefits for all certified staff combined. This number is very concrete, as it is just the sum of all individuals. In the negotiations for next year, the BOE’s cost to district evaluation was initially incorrect by over $800,000. FEA had spent substantial time already by that point to ensure they were making analysis based on accurate data and cost numbers. FEA’s numbers were accurate. It’s important that we are having conversations based around an accurate cost to district number, as any increase must include changes to salary and increased cost to benefits like health care. That way we work to keep the overall staffing cost to the district within the financial resources of FPS funding streams,” wrote Winter in an email to FJN. “A comparability study is a different discussion. It takes our exact staff and calculates what it would cost other similar districts, based on student population size and geographic distance. A comparability study works to compare apples to apples, and it can compensate for cost analysis for differences in salary and benefits. This serves as more of a measure of if the district is competitive with comparable districts for hiring and retention. FEA conducted a comparability study, and knew exactly where our staff stood in comparison, which was below the midpoint value. The BOE uses a different program to conduct their comparability study, and calculated different results. Upon inspection, FEA observed incorrect base data had been utilized in the BOE’s analysis, rendering it inaccurate. FEA feels confident in the validity and accuracy of our results.” When asked about that $800,000 difference, superintendent Embray told FJN, “I do not know what Emily may be referring to but it could possibly be that the 800k being off refers to retirement (NPERS) and FICA. Those are numbers that should be included in negotiations and were on the board’s part.NPERS is Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Systems and FICA is Federal Insurance Contributions Act.

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