Pennsbury teachers ratify contract extension

The school board and teachers in Bucks County's Pennsbury School District, acting to cut costs as the economy struggles, have ratified a one-year contract extension that gives teachers no across-the-board raises.

The extension agreement is the only one of its kind so far in Pennsylvania, said David Davare, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. It reflects a broader effort to keep expenses and tax increases down because of the economic downturn, he said.

The board approved the measure by a 6-2 vote Thursday night; the 835 members of the Pennsbury Education Association had voted "overwhelmingly" for the agreement earlier this month, union president George Miller said.

"While we wait to see how the economic situation proceeds, we hope this will give some relief to the community," Miller said.

The agreement allows teachers to receive raises due them because of advances from one level to the next on the existing seniority-based salary scale, and if they obtain advanced education degrees. About 56 percent of the teachers will get no raise, Gregory Lucidi, the school board president, told the audience at the meeting.

The agreement will cost the district about $1.1 million, taking into account anticipated retirements, district officials said. This year's budget for the 11,000-student district is $174 million.

"I believe this is a good deal for Pennsbury," Lucidi said. "It will help with our goal of a zero percent increase" in taxes.

School board members Gene Dolnick and Wayne DeBlasio voted against the agreement, saying they wanted the teachers to give up all increases. Board member Richard Johnson was absent.

DeBlasio said yesterday: "I think it's a good deal. I just think we should have done better. . . . I feel very strongly that as a whole, Pennsbury's staff should be saying, 'With the economy as bad as it is this year, we're glad we have a job; we'll take nothing this year.' "

DeBlasio said the school board was looking at cuts in administration expenses, could reduce its pre-kindergarten offerings, and might cut staff though attrition and reduce high school course offerings. "Our revenue is down. . . . We're going to have to cut expenses," he said.

Davare said that most school districts say revenue is holding up fairly well but that there has been slippage in real estate transfer taxes, paid when a property is sold. As a result of economic worries, he said, fewer districts are proposing new academic programs for next year.

"Boards don't ever raise taxes just for the sake of raising taxes," he added. "But I do think they are paying more attention to the local economic situation, seeing if they can go for another year with a low impact" by keeping expenses down.

Teacher contracts will expire in 11 other school districts in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties before school starts this fall. Negotiations have started in all those districts.

Robert Broderick, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said that in the initial stages, "there are all different kinds of offers on the table, from one end of the spectrum to the other - from freezes and givebacks to acting as if the economy does not affect them very much. . . . All negotiations are local and reflect the circumstances in that community."

Three contracts that expired last year - Neshaminy; Springfield, Delaware County; and Souderton - are not settled.

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