The cost of healthcare
insurance for teachers in the Unionville–Chadds Ford School District remains a
stumbling block in negotiations between the teachers and the school board.

Representatives from both sides
agree the salary matters are basically resolved, and hope the remaining issues
are resolved soon.

Pat Clark, president of the Unionville-Chadds
Ford Teachers Association, said the union told district representatives on May
9 that they accept the district’s salary proposal, but not willing to accept
what the district proposed for healthcare.

He said the union agrees to a
salary freeze for the current school year with no retroactive increase,
followed by delayed raises for the next two years.

“We still have to negotiate
over the healthcare piece,” Clark said. “We’ve agreed to the compensation
package that the board has put out… We have agreed to pay more for our current
healthcare plan… The board would like to see us move plans. From our
perspective, the cost estimates for next year have come in and there’s really
only two-and-a-half percent, or so, increase, so we’re willing to pay more for
the benefits that we have.”

In a press release issued
before the interview, Clark said: “The UCFEA proposed retaining its current
benefit plan because the district’s health care costs on average have not
increased. The current plan will actually cost the District and the teachers
less than projected in the 2011-2012 school year. The decrease of health care
costs, combined with the salary freeze that the teachers are currently working
under provides the district with substantial savings.”

Frank Murphy, the school board
director involved into the negotiation said that one element is dependent on
the other.

“The association, in large part,
agreed with our salary proposal. The caveat is that our salary proposal was
based, in part, on certain healthcare savings and work rule changes that would
result in financial savings that the teachers’ association rejected,” Murphy
said. “We view this as all tied together, not as separate components. While the
association may have accepted one of the components, by rejecting the other
two, we view that as a rejection of the entire package.”

Murphy acknowledged that UCFEA
is willing to pay more to keep the current health plan, but “It’s not clear to
the board, however, how much more they’re willing to pay. That is the point
that still needs to be bargained.”

He said the union did offer to pay
more into the plan for the second and third years, but the district is still analyzing
the precise cost to the district.

He added that the board did
receive the union’s offer in May and that he, Murphy, e-mailed the union
negotiator saying the board’s formal response would be delayed because of other
matters, such as the investigation into possible outsourcing of transportation,
the budget analysis and support staff agreements among other issues.

Murphy went on to say that it’s
good the two sides do seem to be getting closer and “narrowing the differences
and the disagreements in the bargaining process.”

Murphy and Clark each said the
two sides are continuing to look for mutually agreeable dates and times for
further negotiations.

Talks have been going on for
the last 18 months and the teachers have been working without a contract since
the beginning of the current school year.

Other district issues

• The school board voted 7-0 on
May 31 to maintain in-house transportation services instead of outsourcing.

District announcements:

• Starting in the 2011-2012 school year,
volunteers in our schools who provide direct services to students or may
reasonably be expected to have unsupervised contact with students are
considered "independent volunteers" and are required to submit the
following two clearances.

- Pennsylvania State Criminal Background
Check (Act 34)
- Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance from the PA Department of
Child Welfare (Act 151)

Each school has a list of volunteer positions
requiring clearances. Please refer to the district website (http://www.ucfsd.org/clearances/index.html)
or contact your child's school for additional details.

• The district is moving a pre-first
classroom to Chadds Ford Elementary. Starting in the 2011-2012 school there
will be one pre-first classroom at Unionville Elementary and one at Chadds Ford
Elementary. Moving the classroom
to Chadds Ford Elementary will allow for shorter bus rides for many pre-first
students.

Chadds Ford is also projected to have
adequate classroom space to be able to provide a home for the program in future
years. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact John Nolen at
jnolen@ucfsd.org.