DeLand, FL – Impasse is formally declared by Volusia County Schools in its ongoing contract negotiations with 2 of its unions, including the one for its teachers.
The school district made that announcement on Tuesday morning, the day after a negotiation session with the Volusia Teachers Organization and the Volusia Educational Support Association.
Impasse was declared because of a lack of progress in the negotiations following 10 meetings, including the one on Monday night at DeLand High School, according to VCS spokeswoman Nancy Wait.
“During the impasse process, negotiations may continue,” Wait added. “If not resolved, the final decision on the outcome of those negotiations is decided by the school board.”
VCS Superintendent Tom Russell says VTO and VESA haven’t offered any new contract proposals regarding pay and benefits for the current school year in the last 3 meetings.
“We are committed to finding reasonable solutions that will ultimately benefit all employees while getting our financial house in order,” Russell noted.
The latest VCS offer – a 3.12% average pay raise for teachers and a 3.5% pay raise to support staff starting this July – were rejected by VTO and VESA, per Wait.
“The [VTO] negotiating team [also] rejected the district’s revised proposal to maintain the current dental insurance subsidy and a class size supplement, [both of] which have a cost of nearly $1 million annually,” Wait stated.
A big reason for the stalemate has to do with health insurance. Wait says the district wants costs to be more in line with its neighbors and has offered a health insurance plan equivalent to a gold-medal rated plan on the federal marketplace for $0 per month for individual employee coverage.
“VCS presently offers the highest health insurance subsidies when compared to any of its 6 bordering school districts at up to nearly $840 per month per employee,” Wait noted. “Volusia is also the only area district to offer 5 different health insurance plans at a cost of $20 per month for individual employee coverage.”
VTO President Andrew Spar says the district’s proposal would amount to a $12 million cut in insurance benefits for its employees and that the district’s current position isn’t going to make Volusia County very attractive to teachers moving forward.
After the impasse announcement was made, Spar took issue with the district saying that the unions weren’t willing to bargain.
“The fact is that we started out seeking a 5% raise and have come down to 3%,” Spar noted. “We stopped moving when the district continually refused to negotiate for this year. The district’s only financial proposal – which is for next school year – is to seize money from teachers’ pockets by making them pay more for health care and giving only a portion back in so-called raises.”
VTO is asking for a special magistrate to be assigned in the impasse process and preparing for a possible lawsuit against the district for trying to make health insurance changes for next year without settling this year’s contract first, per Spar.
This is the 2nd consecutive year impasse was declared by VCS in its negotiations with VTO. Both sides most of the last school year to reach a deal, with teachers working without a contract in the meantime.
The deal they finally reached saw current teachers get an average of 2.78% in raises retroactive to July 2014, which school district officials said at the time was the 2nd highest raise in the state for public school teachers. Beginning teacher pay was bumped to $37,000 and state-mandated performance pay was also established for teachers.
VCS reached a preliminary 2-year bargain last week with the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. That’s the union that represents over 1,200 workers in support positions, including bus drivers, school advisors and cafeteria workers.
That deal will see those employees get 3.5% raises starting in July 2016, health care reforms, increased supplemental longevity pay and increases in cafeteria assistant and manager pay that’s more in line with neighboring school districts.
That agreement is subject to a ratification vote by AFSCME employees and the School Board later this month.
Copyright 2016 Southern Stone Communications.