School board tables decision

Jay School Board tabled a special appropriation to pay year-end bills Monday after members of the Jay Classroom Teachers Association asserted the move was an attempt to hide funds from a state-appointed fact-finder who will determine the next contract with the teachers’ union.
Negotiations between the union and the school corporation began in August, but have made no real progress. A mediator was brought in on Oct. 1, and an impasse has been declared, sending the issue to the fact-finding process.
A fact-finder appointed by the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board will review the “last and best” offers from each side in November, will examine school finances and will select one of the two contract proposals on a “winner-take-all” basis.
Indiana State Teachers Association representative Byron Phillips called a proposed additional appropriation of $900,000 from the general fund to pay year-end health insurance claims a “shell game.”
“The question is, why are you transferring all that money?” said Phillips.
“Our assertion is that this transfer of funds is being requested, in part, to hide funds from the upcoming fact-finding hearing,” said Paul Szymczak, president of the JCTA.
Board president Greg Wellman strongly disagreed, but noted that because the negotiation process is still underway board members are constrained from speaking in detail.
“It’s really hard sitting here biting my tongue because we’re still in negotiations,” said Wellman.
School corporation business manager Brad DeRome had requested the $900,000 appropriation from the general fund along with $25,000 from the rainy day fund to pay year-end bills.
He acknowledged Monday that the $900,000 figure was significantly higher than similar requests in past years but defended the amount as his best estimate.
“The $900,000, that’s not a number I came up with lightly or on a whim,” said DeRome. “It’s what I thought I needed at the time and still do.”
He said that so far this calendar year the school corporation is on pace to incur $900,000 more in medical expenses than last year.
“That’s what that number is, a worst-case scenario,” said board member Mike Shannon. “I have never had a problem with numbers Brad has brought to us.”
Teachers — and some board members — were skeptical. Teachers believe the shifts this year in insurance coverage will result in smaller, not larger claims during the final months of 2013.
“We believe that the corporation’s transfer of this large sum is an effort to undermine the teachers’ case at the fact-finding hearing and deny the teachers a fair opportunity at that hearing,” said Syzmczak. “Our attempts to find some other plausible explanation have come up short.
“The only conclusion that this supports is one of deceit and unfairness towards the teachers.”
Wellman decried that view.
“I think it’s ridiculous we’re having this conversation,” he said. “You know Brad’s not trying to pull the wool over someone’s eyes.”
“Hide some money? That’s not happening,” said Shannon.
Speaking in support of the additional appropriation, Wellman said, “I think it would be extremely irresponsible to tie Brad’s hands so he can’t pay the bills.”
By tabling the issue to its Nov. 11 meeting, the board will be able to see the impact of a few more weeks of insurance claims and allow the fact-finding process to move forward.
When it became clear that tabling the issue was legally possible without constraining school finances, the board voted 6-0 to take that step. Board member Larry Paxson was absent from Monday’s meeting.
A key issue in contract negotiations has been the impact of House Bill 1260, which limits a school corporation’s contribution to employee health insurance. While Jay School Corporation has taken steps to come into compliance with that bill, JCTA representatives believe those cost savings should go to teachers as additional compensation.
“This money is the health benefits that have been negotiated and bargained by the teachers in good faith for the past 30 years,” said former JCTA president Jessie Mangus. “Teachers are asking that these monies from the insurance savings be given back to the teachers in the form of salary applied to the base.”
Szymczak added, “The amount of compensation reduction realized by the Jay School Corporation is like the money found in a wallet in a parking lot. It certainly would be nice to have that money, but it doesn’t belong to the corporation. This is compensation that belongs to the teachers. The right thing to do is return the wallet, no matter how much the corporation would like to keep it.”
Teachers also expressed regret over a loss of trust between the union and Jay Schools administration.
“I wonder who (Superintendent Tim Long) is,” said Jay County High School teacher David Golden. “He’s not the same person.”
“The state has really put us in a predicament,” said Mindy Weaver, one of the leaders of the JCTA negotiating team, referring to state legislation that has taken away contract language that had been bargained for over many years. “I want to be positive, but let’s get this on track for our community.”
Wellman shared teachers’ frustration with the Indiana General Assembly.
“Most of what’s happening today is because of legislators in Indianapolis,” he said. “We’re in the same boat, and they keep poking holes in it. … Some day we’ll tell our side of the story, but it can’t be tonight.”
Debate over the additional appropriation spilled over to a more general discussion of school spending.
Board member Mike Masters, who has consistently pressed the school corporation to balance its budget and refrain from dipping into reserve funds, said it should be possible to cut the school budget without having a negative impact on teachers.
“I think we ought to be able to trim $1 million out of our budget and not cut teachers,” he said. But, he added, “I don’t have confidence we’ll make the needed cuts.”
“If I have a say, we will,” said board member Kristi Betts.
“I’ll go along with Mike,” said board member Ron Laux. “I’m not blaming it all on Indianapolis.”
Betts added, “I’ve been through the books enough to know where the cuts can come from.”
In other business, the board:
•Accepted a Title I federal grant of more than $840,000 targeted to help students from low-income families.
•Heard DeRome say school enrollment for the 2013-2014 school year is down by eight students, which will have an impact on state funding for the next budget year.
•Hired Natoshia Cross as an instructional assistant at Westlawn Elementary School and Margaret Ralph as a professional career internship teacher at JCHS.
•Approved leaves of absence for JCHS teacher Florine Golden and Westlawn instructional assistant Susan Brown.
•Approved the retirements of East Jay Middle School custodian Bill Lawhorn and Pennville Elementary School teacher Caryn Moore.
•Accepted the resignation of JCHS custodian David Lindsey.
•Approved extracurricular assignments for Danielle Platfoot as seventh grade girls’ basketball coach at East Jay, Ryan Smitley as assistant wrestling coach at East Jay, Kyle Bischoff as seventh grade boys’ basketball coach at East Jay, Tiffany Mathias as assistant girls’ swimming coach at JCHS, Violet Current as track coach at West Jay Middle School, Kelly Bricker as sixth grade girls’ basketball coach at West Jay, Josh Selvey as eighth grade girls’ basketball coach and sixth grade boys basketball coach at West Jay, Annette Stultz as track coach at West Jay, Jeremy Wasson as sixth grade boys’ basketball coach at West Jay, Rhea Waldradth as sixth grade girls’ basketball coach at West Jay, Brittany Muhlenkamp as seventh grade girls’ basketball coach at West Jay and Eric Myers as assistant wrestling coach at JCHS.
•Accepted extracurricular resignations from Kelly Bricker as seventh grade girls’ basketball coach at West Jay, Danielle Platfoot as sixth grade girls’ basketball coach at East Jay and Greg Garringer as assistant wrestling coach at JCHS.
•Approved field trips by foreign language students to Kings Island, FFA students to North Miami High School, East Jay eighth graders to Ohio Caverns and Bloomfield Elementary School second graders to the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum.[[In-content Ad]]