Teachers in Winfield have made a proposal to the local school board that could end a contract dispute that began earlier this fall, both sides have confirmed to NewsCow.net.
Board members for USD 465 will consider the proposal in private session next Monday, Superintendent Marvin Estes said Monday. Negotiating teams for both parties expect to meet at least one more time before the school board meets.
“We’ve had one negotiating session and hope to have another,” Justin Olmstead, Winfield National Education Association co-president and high school teacher, said. “I think we’re all hoping to make things work out.”
The teachers and school district have been in a stalemate since teachers voted down the board’s 2007-2008 contract offer in early September. Both parties are headed for a fact-finding phase if the dispute is not worked out soon.
Both Olmstead and Estes said the fact finding process ? which requires a third party assess the district’s finances ? would cost the district money and time. They agreed reaching a settlement would be the best-case scenario for all involved.
“It would be a ton of work for both (parties),” Olmstead said. “We need to find something that will work for both the teachers and the board.”
A resolution may be possible now because student numbers for the year appear to have increased, which would mean more money for the school district. That is especially true if the number of children receiving free or reduced lunches increases because the district gets more aid for those students.
Estes acknowledges the gap between what teachers want and what the board wants to give is not a lot in terms of the overall budget. Teachers have asked for a 7 percent across-the-board wage increase and the district has offered just under 6 percent ? a difference of about $150,000.
But without increased student numbers to boost revenue, there is little wiggle room in the existing budget, Estes said.
“The teachers have come up with some ideas that have to be discussed,” he said. “If we can settle this we are certainly anxious to do that. I think we all agree we need to do something about salaries, we just disagree on how quickly it can get done.”
Any decision rendered during the fact-finding process would be non-binding. Teachers in Kansas are forbidden by law from enacting a work stoppage or labor strike.
If the issue remains unresolved, school board members could eventually decide to give teachers the option of accepting the contract already offered or working under last year’s deal. Both Olmstead and Estes said it was important that option be avoided if at all possible.
“I think you could lose a lot of teachers that way,” Olmstead said.
