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Souderton teachers, board to talk Friday

    by By Dan Hardy, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
    Published 

Striking teachers and the Souderton Area School Board will hold their first negotiating session tomorrow since the teachers started walking picket lines Tuesday, the first day of school.

The two sides are far apart; the main issues in the 5,900-student district are wages and healthcare benefits.

The 512-member union's latest proposal was for a 5.98 percent wage increase in the first year of a four-year agreement, 9.4 percent in the second year, 7.14 percent in the third, and 6.9 percent in the fourth. The school board is proposing a three-year contract with increases of 2.5 percent each year. The school board is seeking to eliminate its highest-tier health plan and wants higher premium contributions and more copays for the remaining two. The union wants to leave all three plans in place with the same percentages of premium contributions that are now in effect, and wants to add improvements to the plan.

Even if no settlement is reached, the teachers must return to work on Sept. 24, state education officials have told the union and the district.

Under Pennsylvania law, the teachers must go back in time for students to receive 180 days of instruction by June 15 of next year. The Sept. 24 date would allow that, counting in state-set holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas and including five district-designated holidays.

If the strike lasts until Sept. 24, the two sides would enter a state-mandated final best-offer arbitration process that could take several months. A three-member panel would issue recommendation after holding hearings. If either of the two sides reject the proposed settlement, the teachers could strike again, but would have to return to work in time for students to receive 180 days of classes by June 30.

The Souderton strike is the only one in the Philadelphia suburbs this fall, but yesterday teachers in Delaware County's Springfield school district authorized their leadership authorization to call a strike if necessary. No deadline has been set; bargaining is scheduled for tonight.