Schools

Birmingham School Board OKs Contracts for District Employees

Birmingham's five unions, including teachers, agree to pay 10 percent for health insurance and longer salary schedules.

The Birmingham Board of Education voted to approve employee contracts for the 's five bargaining units, including its nearly 600 teachers, at an early-morning meeting today.

The board also approved fringe benefits for operational assistants and administrators, as well as the 2011-12 compensation rates for all non-affiliated, or hourly, employees.

The district is facing financial pressures from all sides this year, so it was important to keep cost-saving measures in mind when negotiating employee contracts, Superintendent David Larson said. "I don't think all sides got all that they wanted, but negotiations are about reaching a middle ground," he said.

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The district reached compromises with its unions representing administrators, operational and administrative assistants, paraprofessionals, maintenance workers and teachers. The contracts are for two to three years.

All bargaining units agreed to several concessions, including increased contributions to employee health insurance, longer salary schedules and tying merit pay to employee and student performance. In total, concessions from all five contracts will save the district approximately $925,000 a year.

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All contracts were approved by unanimous votes with the exception of the contract with the Birmingham Education Association (BEA), which represents the district's 587 teachers. Trustee Steve Scheidt voted against the contract, noting the agreement still adds millions to the district's labor costs.

"I can't agree to a contract that increases our expenses," Scheidt said, reminding the board of the unprecented steps already taken to cover the district's $6.6 milllion deficit for 2011-12.

, which limits the amount of money the board can annually transfer from the district's $17 million fund equity account. Instead of laying off teachers or cutting programs, board members will be covering the entire deficit using money from fund equity.

By setting aside its own policies, Scheidt said the board has made sacrifices and wants to see more from district employees. Trustee Robert Lawrence agreed with Scheidt, but said the district must continue to support its staff, especially during times of financial stress. 

"We should be investing in our assets, which is our staff," Lawrence said.

Board President Lori Soifer agreed, noting that using the district's fund equity is a bridge to stabilize the district for the next couple years. "We're not laying off teachers, we're not increasing class sizes," she said. "This is a very good thing for our kids."

Teachers ratify contract with state cuts in mind

The approval of a two-year contract with the teachers union marks a significant break from last year

Working with the district was a little easier this time, according to BEA president Scott Warrow, who said the BEA and district representatives met for eight all-day sessions, compared to last year when the two sides met 39 times.

Warrow said this year the BEA wasn't bargaining with the district — it was bargaining with the state in the face of large cuts to K-12 education throughout Michigan.

"I think it's difficult," Warrow said. "(Teachers) are people who are well respected around the community, who work really hard during the school day and then outside the classroom ... (They're) just not being recognized by the state."

Nearly half of the BEA's members attended a four-hour informational meeting Tuesday morning at Groves High School, where union representatives addressed dozens of questions and teacher concerns.

Warrow said many of the concessions made by teachers were an effort to help the district recover from state funding cuts. , a 6 percent cut that is expected to save the state about $450 million.

The district's goal is to reduce that per-pupil loss to $270 per student by meeting four out of five cost-saving incentives mandated by the state's best practices law, passed a month ago, Birmingham schools spokeswoman Maricia Wilkinson said.

One of those incentives was to have all district employees pay 10 percent of their total health insurance, a concession agreed to by all five bargaining units. For a family, that means an additional $200 a month, Warrow said. "It significantly increases the spending for each teacher and every employee," he said.

Contract breakdown

Birmingham negotiates with five bargaining units:

  • Association of Birmingham School Administrative and Supervisory Personnel (ABSASP): Covers the district's 45 administrators
  • American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME): Covers the district's 12 maintenance workers
  • Birmingham Assocation Paraprofessionals (BAP): Covers the district's 147 paraprofessionals
  • Birmingham Education Association (BEA): Covers the district's 587 teachers
  • Birmingham Association of Educational Office Personnel (BAEOP): Covers the district's 60 administrative assistants

District administrators, led by Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Jon Dean, have been bargaining with represenatives from all five unions this spring and summer. 

The pressure was on to approve employee contracts before July 1. A new stipulation in Michigan collective bargaining law requires that unions sign their contracts before July 1 or risk employees losing their step-and-level pay increases, Wilkinson said.

The terms of each contract agreement are:

ABSASP

  • Duration: Three years, with the option to terminate after two years
  • Key highlights: Employees must pay 10 percent of their health insurance; employee steps are 100 percent tied to performance; district maintains rights to reduce pay by 4 percent in the future if necessary; merit pay tied to student performance.
  • Annual savings to district: $65,000

AFSCME

  • Duration: Three years, with the option to terminate after two years
  • Key highlights: Employees must pay 10 percent of their health insurance; new employees will be eligible for single-person health care coverage only during the first four years employed with the district; district maintains the right to reduce pay by 4 percent in the future if necessary; merit pay tied to employee performance.
  • Annual savings to district: $20,000

BAP

  • Duration: Three years, with the option to terminate after two years
  • Key highlights: Employees must pay 10 percent of their health insurance; new  employees will be eligible for single-person health care coverage only during the first four years employed with the district; merit pay tied to employee performance.
  • Annual savings to district: $160,000

BAEOP

  • Duration: Three years, with the option to terminate after two years
  • Key highlights: Employees pay 10 percent of their health insurance; significantly reduced vacation day eligibility for new employees; merit pay tied to employee performance.
  • Annual savings to district: $80,000

BEA

  • Duration: Two years
  • Key highlights: Employees pay 10 percent of their health insurance; current employees only progress one step over two years; new employees will have a 13-step salary schedule; merit pay tied to employee and building performance; addition of one teacher work day for professional development in 2011-12; addition of one instructional day in 2012-13; addition of four new delayed starts per year; increased daily rate of pay for teachers who complete professional development during the summer or on Saturdays.
  • Annual savings to district: $600,000


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