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Union, Board Butt
Heads
Teachers Balk At Planned Cuts
By FULVIO CATIVO
Courant Staff Writer
June 2 2007
WEST HARTFORD -- The town teachers' union will not renegotiate its contract
despite a request from school officials to help trim expenses by cutting two
days of school and salary for those days.
Last week, Superintendent David P. Sklarz sent West
Hartford Education Association President Susan Daly a letter explaining that
the district is "exploring all options" as it looks for ways to cut
$1.8 million from next year's budget without hurting students.
The cuts became necessary after the town council reduced the district's
adopted budget for next school year from $120.1 million to $118.3 million.
The reduced budget is a 4.24 percent increase over current spending. About 83
percent of the district's annual budget goes to employee salaries and
benefits. Teachers are a large majority of the district's staff.
In his letter, Sklarz said the district is
considering reducing next school year's calendar by two days, as long as the
union agrees to a corresponding salary reduction of a little more than 1
percent. The district could stand to save thousands of dollars if the
teachers accept the proposal, but officials did not mention any exact figures
this week.
Teachers get paid for 187 days of work during the school year - 184 of those
are class days, the other three are professional development days. Schools
are required to be in session a minimum of 180 days.
Daly said the union will not renegotiate its current three-year contract,
which expires in 2009.
"We were fully expecting them to ask us to do that," Daly said in a
telephone interview. The union is looking to meet with school officials to
discuss other ways to cut the budget while minimizing the impact on students.
Daly declined to discuss any specific recommendations.
Sklarz did not comment at length on the union's
response to his letter, but he said the proposal is a one-time request.
"I think we are in almost a crisis situation. It almost requires unusual
alternatives," he said.
If the teachers don't accept the proposal, school board members said, the
district may still opt to close schools and save thousands of dollars on the
salaries of daily-wage, non-contract employees, such as substitute teachers.
Union officials took issue with a school board member's comment made Tuesday
at a public hearing on the budget cuts.
After a resident asked how she could help with the district's budget
challenges, school board Vice Chairman Bruce Putterman
made several suggestions, including that residents consider approaching their
children's teachers about accepting Sklarz's
workdays and pay cut proposal.
The statement, Daly said, stood to pit the community against its teachers.
"It just leaves a really bad taste in my mouth going out," said
Daly, who is retiring after 36 years as a town teacher and six years as the
WHEA president.
Putterman said the comment was misinterpreted.
"It was not intended as a shot across the bow," he explained.
"It was really intended more to open up a dialogue. That was truly the
spirit with which the comment was offered and not meant to threaten
anybody."
The weeks-long debate on where the budget could be cut will draw to a close -
for now - on Tuesday night, when the school board is scheduled to meet and
vote on the necessary budget reductions. The meeting will be held in town
hall's legislative chamber at 7 p.m.
Further cuts may become necessary if the town budget is rejected at a
referendum on June 12.
Contact Fulvio Cativo at
fcativo@courant.com.
Copyright 2007, Hartford Courant
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