By: Jeff Lipton
Having worked without a new contract for a year and a half, Lawrence administrators blasted the Lawrence school board last week for rejecting recommendations contained in a fact-finding report that would have given administrators an average 3.4 percent wage increase over four years.
Unable to settle a contract dispute that has lingered since June 2002, the district called in an impartial fact-finding arbitrator, who recommended that Lawrence administrators receive 3.25 percent increases in the first and second years of the contract, retroactive to July 1, 2002, 3.5 percent in the third year and 3.75 percent in the fourth year, ending June 30, 2006.
In a copy of the report obtained by the Herald, the fact-finder stated that administrators are leaders in the district and should be appropriately compensated for their work. High morale is maintained when administrators receive adequate compensation for their training, experience and unique responsibilities. the report said.
Contract settlements in other districts have wage hikes ranging between 3 percent and 5 percent per year. It is essential for school districts to remain competitive. the report said.
During the Dec. 16 school board meeting, the board voted to turn down the report, dated Nov. 18, as the basis of concluding a collective bargaining agreement with the Association of Lawrence Administrators (ALA). The ALA represents about 25 district employees, including principals, assistant principals, curriculum directors and district supervisors.
Dr. Mark Kavarsky, principal of the Lawrence Middle School and vice president of ALA, tersely addressed the board following its vote, condemning the board members for rejecting the report.
Appearing to hold his anger in check, Kavarsky told the board members and superintendent Dr. John Fitzsimons that they continue to show disrespectÓ to the ALA by dragging the process on without a resolution. He said that by failing to settle a new contract with the administrators, the district is sending the wrong message to its leadership team. He added that it will be extremely difficult to attract new administrators to the district given the way they are treated. Lawrence administrators, Kavarsky said, only want to be paid their fair share, a salary that is competitive with other districts in the county.
Following Kavarsky's harshly worded speech, board member Anthony Licatesi said that after the New Year, the board will try to set up a meeting where all parties can get togetherÓ to settle a contract once and for all. He said the board's decision to reject the report was by no means a sign of disrespect to administrators.
One reason the salary increase was rejected, the district explained, is that it is recovering from a financial crisis. However, it does appear that the financial situation of the Lawrence Public Schools is improving. the report stated. The district cites the increased financial burden of increases in insurance premiums and retirement contributions. However, these increases will affect all units and all districts in a similar manner.
The district also cited the poor performance of fourth- and eighth-grade students on state math and reading tests. Teachers and administrators need to work together to improve academic performance. the fact-finder's report said. Neither group should be punished.
Pat Pizzarelli, District 15's supervisor of health, physical education and athletics and the ALA's president, said the ALA is extremely disappointed that the fact-finder's report was turned down by the school board. The issues in dispute are compensation, payment for unused sick leave upon retirement and the eligibility requirement for carrying health insurance into retirement.
Pizzarelli said that even though the report's recommendations did not contain everything the ALA desired, it was a good-faith effort at a reasonable settlement. Besides the salary hike, the report recommended that upon retirement, under the New York State Teachers Retirement System, ALA members should be paid for their accumulated sick leave up to a maximum of 220 days at the rate of $125 per day.
But the ALA's proposal to reduce the number of years for eligibility to carry health insurance into retirement from 10 to three after the conferring of tenure was rejected by Dr. Phyllis Almenoff, who was appointed fact-finder on July 24, 2003, by the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). We said that we would accept [the fact-finder's report] in the best interests of moving towards a settlement. said Pizzarelli. And the board unilaterally rejected it.
While the pay of the district's teachers ranks among the top 10 percent in Nassau County, the principals rank in the middle of the pack, at the 40-to-50 percentile. For the 2002-03 school year, the principals' salaries ranged between $110,280 and $117,255.
Fitzsimons refused to comment on the report and the board's rejection of it. He said he understands the frustration among the administrators, who have been working without a contract since June 2002. I think they are frustrated, but I would have counseled him not to do that. Fitzsimons said of Kavarsky's harsh address to the board.
The school district and the administrators held six negotiating sessions from Sept. 17, 2002, to April 29, 2003. Last May 16 the association declared that negotiations had hit an impasse. PERB appointed Karen Kenny to mediate the impasse, and when the contract remained unresolved, the ALA requested a fact-finder in a letter to PERB.
