Monica Scott
3/14/2016
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The presidents of four Grand Rapids Public Schools unions recently sent a letter to its members, critical of the school board for changes to Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal's benefits package, while they work without a contract.
But on Monday, March 14, district leaders said the leaked Feb. 27 internal letter that references Neal is inaccurate and they remain committed to working with the bargaining teams, including the teachers' union and that of support staff.
The contract with district unions expired June 30, 2015. Negotiations have been ongoing, but a Feb. 25 proposal from the district that union leaders said represented "a zero guaranteed increase in compensation through June 2017," prompted the letter titled "A Message to GRPS MEA Members."
"That (the proposal) is after Superintendent (Teresa) Neal received a contract extension six months early that included $54,450 in new compensation, five additional vacation days, and the same wage increase you would get, on top of that," according to the letter.
But John Helmholdt, communications director for the district, said the amount is wrong and not new compensation, as alleged.
"The $54,450 is absolutely not accurate because it was represented as if this was some type of new compensation and it is in fact a reimbursement of the retirement obligation that the district has to the superintendent," he said.
"We want the same things they do - to ensure that our employees are getting the wages and benefits to make them competitive and support their families."
In January, Neal asked the board to restructure its pension obligation for her due to a retirement issue with the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System (MPSERS). Any salary increase she receives will be at the highest percentage rate given to employees.
School board president Tony Baker said in January that the retirement system bases future retirement earnings at the salary in which you start the position, but the district had been basing its contributions on her current salary. He said the district overpaid her pension and received a $36,000 check back from the system, but the extension contract diverts it back to Neal, via her annuity and longevity.
Neal currently earns $198,000 but the retirement system is using an average of $170,000 for her calculation.
Under her new three-year contract, the board is contributing $50,000 to Neal's tax-deferred annuity, an increase of $10,000. She is also getting a one-time lump sum annual longevity pay of $20,000 on July 1, an increase of $5,000. In addition, she will receive $15,000 annual longevity payments for the remainder of the contract term, an increase of $11,600. She also has five extra days of vacation, for a total of 32 days.
According to the district, the payments will reimburse Neal for money that she will lose from MPSERS because of the cap on her salary to be used in her retirement calculation.
Regardless of the reasoning, Mary Bouwense, president of the teachers union, said Neal is still getting in benefits what some teachers don't even make in a year.
"We are looking for equity and the same type of respect and acknowledgement shown to the superintendent," she said. "We are the ones that are doing all the work and she gets a significant jump in her compensation and it seems one-sided."
She said the letter was intended to encourage attendance at the March 12 Michigan Education Association general meeting to learn more about negotiations and get their support in sending a strong message of their discontent to the school board.
Helmholdt insists retaining, recruiting and developing the top talent is a district focus. He cited the December 2014 step and salary increases ranging from 2.5 to 7.4 percent. The increases were a result of reaching better than expected enrollment targets, which were negotiated into the previous contract.
"We have a mutually desired goal," he said.
The district has a total of seven employee groups. Bouwense said the letter was signed by those affiliated with the MEA: The teachers union, Grand Rapids Educational Support Professionals Association (GRESPA), Grand Rapids Educational Officers Association Personnel (GRAEOP), and the Grand Rapids Association of Child Care Workers, Employment Training Specialist, Non-Certified Teachers, Certified Therapist Assists and Physical Therapy Assistants (GRACEN).
The unions have been picketing the district administration building, including the night the new contract was approved.
No comments:
Post a Comment