Administrators, staff among first to OK givebacks; some districts talking with teachers
Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era
Updated Mar 09, 2011 22:54
By BRIAN WALLACE, Staff Writer
When Gov. Tom Corbett unveiled his 2011-2012 budget Tuesday, he urged public school employees to help their districts cope with the funding crunch by taking a pay freeze next year.
Nearly half of all local school districts have already heeded the governor's call, and more are expected to follow suit in the coming months.
Eight Lancaster County school districts are planning voluntary wage freezes for nearly 900 administrators, custodians, technology staffers and other support personnel next year.
Lancaster County Career & Technology Center also has agreed to an administrative pay freeze, and so have administrators with Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13.
The wage freezes are expected to reduce salary and benefits costs next year by nearly $1.4 million — a drop in the bucket for school systems whose budgets total a cumulative hundreds of millions of dollars.
But in the current fiscal environment of rising expenses, flat local revenue, vanishing federal funds and state education aid plummeting by 15 percent or more, every bit helps.
And if districts are successful in the coming months in getting their largest group of employees — teachers — to forgo pay hikes next year, that would mean millions of dollars in additional savings.
At least four county districts have asked teachers to consider freezing their salaries, which are set to rise by about 3.6 percent next year.
"Everybody knows it's harsh times," said Bill Clark, superintendent of Manheim Central School District, where 121 support staff and 17 administrators have agreed to freeze their pay next year, saving the district about $160,000.
The freezes will affect a wide range of workers, from Clark and his administrative team to custodians, cafeteria servers, technology staff members and classroom aides.
"I think what they're doing is taking a short-term loss for a long-term gain of having a position," Clark said.
While agreeing to a freeze won't guarantee the workers their jobs, Clark said, the cost savings make layoffs less likely.
"It definitely helps, and it definitely shows the integrity of the individuals and their willingness to step up, and that speaks volumes," he said.
Hempfield's support staff of 374 workers also has agreed to a wage freeze, along with 50 district administrators.
Those freezes are expected to save the district more than $500,000.
Other districts planning freezes next year include School District of Lancaster, Eastern Lancaster County, Manheim Township, Penn Manor, Elizabethtown and Conestoga Valley.
Most plan to freeze only administrative pay at this point, but it's possible other employee groups may agree to wage freezes as budget negotiations continue in the coming months.
Several districts among the nine others that have yet to announce pay freezes of any kind said they, too, will decide in the coming months whether to hold the line or cut employees' salaries next year.
CV, Manheim Township and Hempfield also have asked their teachers to consider skipping next year's raises, and Lampeter-Strasburg is discussing possible cost-saving measures with its teachers, superintendent Bob Frick said.
Frick declined to provide specifics on the talks but said, "We're having great success, and they're being very cooperative."
The teachers belong to local affiliates of the state teachers' union, the Pennsylvania State Education Association. Before a pay freeze or any other changes to their contracts could take effect, a majority of teachers in each local union would have to approve the changes.
No votes have been taken at this point, according to district officials. Representatives of the local unions either declined to comment or could not immediately be reached for comment on the pay freeze issue.
Because teacher salaries represent 40 percent to 50 percent of most school districts' budgets, the potential savings are significant.
Hempfield would save about $1.6 million next year if teachers agree to a pay freeze, Manheim Township would save about $1 million and CV could cut about $722,000 from salaries and benefits, officials said.
Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, local teacher unions have voted down wage freeze proposals in recent weeks.
PSEA spokesman David Broderic said he is not aware of any unionized teachers in the state who have agreed to a freeze.
bwallace@lnpnews.com
Read more: http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/360697#ixzz1GFpo7zSV
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