(July 1, 2014) The Westerville City School District Board of Education yesterday approved negotiated agreements with the three employee associations that represent classified support staff members: Westerville Educational Support Staff Association (WESSA), Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE) Local 138, and OAPSE Local 719.
Each negotiated agreement begins July 1, 2014, and will be in effect through the 2017-18 school year. The agreements provide support staff with an annual 2 percent salary increase through the duration of the contract and include changes to other operational matters, such as grievance procedures, calamity days, use of sick days, vacation accrual and severance pay calculation.
The contracts include language that brings them into alignment with new national Affordable Care Act provisions. During the third and fourth year of each contract, if the cost of health insurance increases more than the amount in the current five-year forecast (10 percent each year), then the contracts will reopen solely on the issue of health insurance.
For employees hired into each of these bargaining units on and after July 1, 2014, the number of sick days that may be used to calculate severance pay has been capped at 63.3 days. Employees hired before July 1, 2014, presently are allowed up to 60 days to calculate severance pay. This will increase to 67 days in the first year of the contract and then be capped at 72 days in years two through four. This cap is consistent with that found in the Board’s current agreement with the Westerville Education Association.
Compensation for these bargaining units’ employees who are called in to work on a calamity day is reduced from two times their rate of pay to one-and-a-half times their pay rate. Discussions also affirmed the superintendent's ability to determine which employee classifications and how many individuals can be called to work during calamity days. A summary of other provisions within each negotiated agreement follows.
WESSA
WESSA represents district support staff such as secretaries, clerk typists, health aides, English as a Second Language paraprofessionals and bilingual aides, study hall monitors and building duty monitors. According to the new agreement, WESSA employees hired on and after July 1, 2014, who work less than 30 hours per week will not be able to purchase Board offered health insurance. In exchange for agreeing to this provision, WESSA employees will receive a one-time payment of $200. WESSA employees can earn an additional 10 days of sick leave and the accumulation of unused vacation time will be consistent between 12-month and 11-month employees. The negotiated agreement now includes binding arbitration, which is consistent with other district bargaining units. WESSA employees who substitute for a colleague will be compensated for that work at a lower substitute rate of pay rather than their regular rate of pay. Job postings for WESSA positions will be e-mailed to members.
OAPSE LOCAL #719
OAPSE Local #719 represents the district’s bus drivers and mechanics. According to the new agreement, grievance procedures are streamlined and each step in the process will be heard by a different administrator. Language has been added to clarify employee’s years of service to the district and how they are used to calculate earned vacation time. The agreement strengthens insurance premium deduction procedures and better defines the work day for payroll purposes. Mechanics who complete additional training and obtain additional skills to service district buses will receive additional compensation. Language has been added to address and hold employees accountable for suspicious patterns of sick leave usage and/or excessive usage. Representatives from the district and OPASE Local #719 have committed to meet and develop an employee Attendance Incentive program.
OAPSE LOCAL #138
OAPSE Local #138 represents district support staff such as custodians, food service workers, maintenance employees and warehouse staff. According to the new agreement, employees hired on and after July 1, 2014, who work less than 30 hours per week will not be able to purchase Board offered health insurance. In exchange for agreeing to this provision, a small number of current, part-time cooks were given the opportunity to purchase health insurance. The agreement also strengthens insurance premium deduction procedures, streamlines grievance procedures and requires each step of the grievance process to be heard by a different administrator. Language has been added to clarify employee’s years of service to the district and how they are used to calculate earned vacation time. New language will address and hold employees accountable for suspicious patterns of sick leave usage and/or excessive usage, while other language has been strengthened to hold employees accountable and discipline them for unapproved unpaid leaves of absence. Representatives from the district and OPASE Local #138 have committed to meet and develop an employee Attendance Incentive program. The type of work a custodian may perform while working outside of his or her regular hours has been expanded and cafeteria employees will be able to earn extra time, providing it does not result in overtime payments.
The newly-approved negotiated agreements replace two-year contract extensions that were approved in early 2012 and included significant employee concessions such as higher insurance premiums, salary freezes and reduced benefits. Every employee group took measures at that time to give back and help the Board of Education address a $23 million budget deficit projected for Fiscal Year 2013.
The only collective bargaining agreement yet to be negotiated is with the Westerville Education Association (WEA), which represents the district’s teachers and other licensed professionals. The current agreement, which took effect September 1, 2012, included a reduction to teachers’ insurance benefits as well as a two-year freeze to their base salaries and step increases. The WEA agreement is in effect through August 31, 2015.