A tentative agreement between the Little Rock School District and its employee union that will reduce the teacher work year and pay by two days for the 2016-17 school year is on its way to Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key.
Members of the Little Rock Education Association, which represents the district's teachers and support service employees in contract negotiations, voted at a closed meeting Tuesday to ratify the eight-page negotiated agreement that also includes a $25 reduction in the district's monthly contribution to employee health insurance premiums.
The benefit reduction that is to take effect Jan. 1 would result in a $275-a-month district contribution, down from $300 per employee per month.
The starting salary for new teachers with a bachelor's degree would be $34,865, compared with $35,232 last year. The top teacher salary with a master's degree plus 30 additional post-graduate college hours and 20 years of experience will be $67,919, compared with $68,634 this past year. The lower salaries reflect a previously announced two-day reduction in the teacher work year, from 192 days to 190 days this year.
Cathy Koehler, president of the association, said Tuesday the agreement was negotiated between leaders of the association and former Superintendent Baker Kurrus before he was replaced July 1 by new Superintendent Mike Poore. Koehler said Poore honored the agreement.
Poore provided a copy of the agreement Tuesday that bears his signature.
The proposed agreement will now go to Key for his approval. Key serves in lieu of a school board in the state-controlled Little Rock district, which does not currently have an elected school board. A school board would typically vote on an agreement for employees.
Koehler said Tuesday the agreement reflects efforts by the district to minimize expenses in anticipation of the district losing $37 million a year in special school desegregation aid after the 2017-18 school year. The elimination of that special funding is part of a settlement agreement in a long-running Pulaski County federal school desegregation case.
"We still enjoy more than other districts give," Koehler said in regard to the cut in the contribution to the insurance premium. "It is still the priority to continue to have paid health insurance."
Koehler called it a shared sacrifice among all employees.
"We just have to focus on doing these things to get to a place where we can begin to have raises," she said. "Until we know how many students we are going to have, how many buildings we are going to have, how many employees -- this is it. This year is going to determine so much of our future and our financial future."
The shorter work year for teachers will save the district $1.2 million and the five-day cut to administrators will result in about $475,000 in savings, according to projections made by district leaders earlier this summer.
Despite the cut in insurance and work days, eligible district employees are scheduled to receive a "step" increase for their additional year of work experience, Koehler said. The district's most veteran teachers who have reached the top of the salary schedule and are ineligible for a step increase will receive a $2,000 stipend -- same as they have in the past.
The proposal includes a clause recognizing the association as the exclusive representative of employees. It also includes provisions regarding various categories of employee leave time and it sets out a procedure for employees to have grievances heard and resolved.
The district submitted salary schedules for all employee groups to the Department of Education as part of its July "school board" agenda for Key's approval.
"A pay raise has not occurred since the 2013-14 school year," Robert Robinson, recruitment and classified personnel coordinator, wrote in a cover letter for the salary schedules for the different employee groups. "Consequently, there are no changes in the 2016-17 salary schedules except for the reduction in the number of contract days for some groups of employees."
Most district teachers returned to work Monday for the 2016-17 school year. School starts for students Aug. 15.
Metro on 08/10/2016