Haverford Township School Unions Willing To Take Pay Cut

Two unions for the Haverford Township School District voted during the past week to reopen and amend contracts for next year in effort to save the district money during difficult budget times, Haverford Township Schools Superintendent William Keilbaugh said during a school board meeting Thursday night.

The two unions which voted to reopen the contracts were the Teachers Assocation and the Administrative Group, Keilbaugh said.  The Administrative Group is a union comprised of principals, assistant principals, supervisors and some school operations workers, Keilbaugh added.

By agreeing to amend the contracts, employees from both unions would be taking a pay reduction, Keilbaugh told the Haverford-Havertown Patch.

“Everyone’s trying to do some level of compensation reduction over what they were entitled to over the next year,” Keilbaugh told Patch.

In early May, Central Administration for Haverford Township School District agreed to a salary freeze for the upcoming salary year in an effort to try to avoid some of the district budget cuts which are being proposed for the 2011-2012 school year, if the district loses more than a million in state aid under the proposed state budget.

Central Administration is comprised of six school administrators, Keilbaugh, assistant superintendents Nicholas Rotoli and Nancy Donahue, Business Manager Richard Henderson, Director of Pupil Services and Special Education Valerie L. Burnett, and Jane Greenspun, director of district technology services,

If the school board were to approve the three unions’ proposed contract amendments, it would save the school district about $660,000, Keilbaugh said. 

Later in the meeting, Board of School Directors President Denis Gray thanked the unions for their willingness, “to help us through some very difficult times to preserve as much as possible.”

“No matter what Harrisburg may throw at us, we can continue to keep our chin up and move ahead to provide the best education possible in Haverford Township,” Gray said.

During public comment, Lillian Mittleman, a resident of Havertown, spoke out against one of the proposals the school district said it would consider in light of budget cuts, which would be reducing library staff for the elementary schools to one staff person.

“Cutting the elementary school library staff back to one individual who will serve all five schools will affect every child in those five schools,” Mittleman said ”District instruction from the librarians in this, the information age, is critical.”

Mittleman asked the board to explore other options such as charging an activity fee for after-school activities, eliminating secondary busing or charging rental fees for use of school grounds and buildings.

Gray responded that the school district had done all it could over the past year to avoid budget cuts.

Gray said he was skeptical that an activity fee would bring in much money and he was concerned that the children of families that could not afford an activity fee would be denied the chance to play sports or participate in afterschool activities.

The audience had dwindled to about 12 people during public comment, but the school board meeting in the Haverford Middle School began with standing room only, as students and their families filed in for awards presentations.

Amongst those honored were elementary school students and high school athletes.

Student teams from four of the district’s elementary schools placed among the top 10 in the state in a Quiz Bowl, with Chatham Park receiving first place in the state competition, Coopertown placing fifth, Lynnewood ranking seventh and Chestutwold plaing ninth.

Many of the student athletes which were honored are going on to “fine colleges” on scholarship, Gray said when he made reference to the awards near the end of the meeting.

School Board Student Representatives Erika Knight and Margaret Huang, who are graduating this month, were recognized for their service on the board.