Board, support staff settle

Employees will receive a .5 percent salary increase to prevent staff cuts

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Last Wednesday the Calvert County Board of Education's negotiating team and the Calvert Association of Educational Support Staff, or CAESS, reached a tentative agreement giving a 0.5 percent salary adjustment for all support staff for 2009-10, instead of the previously contracted 4.5 percent.

According to a press release from the Calvert County Board of Education, the agreement also included all eligible employees continuing to receive step increases; individual contributions for health insurance benefits remaining at the fiscal year 2009 contract level; and a one-time payment of 1 percent of support staff employees' base salary being paid to all of the association's most senior members.

This news comes after negotiations between the Calvert County Board of Education's negotiation team and the Calvert Education Association, or CEA, and the CAESS reached an impasse last month.

This occurred when Superintendent of Schools Jack Smith added 90 previously cut positions back to the budget by budgeting for teachers and education support staff personnel to have a .5 percent salary adjustment, along with step increase based on longevity.

Due to the impasse, declared by State Superintendent of Schools Nancy Grasmick, a third party neutral mediator would be chosen to work with both unions and the school system's negotiating team. This individual would now only need working with the teachers' union.

"We talked and gave [the board's negotiating team] a few things … we decided it was time with the shape the economy was in," said CAESS President Steven Brooks, who is also building supervisor at Patuxent High School in Lusby.

Though CAESS members were to meet Tuesday to vote on whether to ratify the contract addendum, Brooks expected them to respond positively.

"They'll understand … they had to deal with the initial shock of ‘we signed a contract and now we have to reopen it,'" Brooks said, explaining that this is the final year of a three-year contract.

Negotiations for the next three-year contract, Brooks said, will start in November.

When asked if he thinks the 4.5 percent will be retained, Brooks answered that he thinks it is doubtful.

"You know the saying ‘when you lose something, you'll never get it back?'" he said, adding "… Hopefully the economy will improve."

Deputy Superintendent Robin Welsh, who headed the board's negotiation teams, said she was pleased by this decision on many levels.

"Whenever a group is at impasse with the school system, that's never good for the school system," she said, adding that the one-time payment of 1 percent of support staff employees' base salary being paid to all of the association's most senior members was also beneficial.

"It does show value in our longest employees [who have worked 22 years or more] and it gets us out of impasse together," she said.

Welsh did say, however, that the same offer was made to CAE, but was ultimately rejected.

"We are definitely going to impasse [with CAE]. We are working out the dates and everything," she said.

CAE President Debbie Russ said that while a neutral third party negotiator, Marvin Johnson, has been selected, she hopes he will not need to be used.

"We're always working diligently to get a good contract for our teachers," Russ said. "We're working on it daily to get our contract dilemma resolved."

Calvert County Board of Education President Eugene Karol said that though he was out of town when the CAESS decision was made, he thinks it was a step in the right direction.

"I think they did the right thing based on the circumstances of today with the financial problems," Karol said, continuing that he is hopeful that CAE negotiations will soon end successfully as well.

lbuck@somdnews.com