School board, unable to fight past practices, agrees to $1.5M-plus in pay and benefit increases for teachers; action means 26 full-time positions will be cut

By Jon Tatting
jon.tatting@ecm-inc.com

The Cambridge-Isanti School Board during what was supposed to be a study session Dec. 1 conceded any case against the local teachers’ union, which last month filed an unfair labor practice lawsuit claiming the district violated its current contract.

For John Droubie and other teachers, the matter boiled down to a fairness issue where legal means was necessary.

“It’s not the money; this is about the district not honoring our continuing contract and following the (negotiation) process,” said Droubie, a high school special education teacher, wrestling coach and co-president of the teachers’ union called Education Minnesota Cambridge-Isanti (EMCI), some 24 hours before the board’s Tuesday night meeting.

In light of its current contract, the union in its lawsuit, filed on Nov. 17, claimed the district:

• unilaterally, as opposed to collectively, froze all steps meaning automatic pay increases that recognize the experience teachers bring to the classroom;

• assessed or failed to cover the full cost of health insurance premium increases to the teachers; and

• unilaterally altered legally-binding agreements with coaches and activity directors/extracurricular advisors, resulting in lower pay than what was agreed upon by other parties.

“It is illegal for the district to make these changes outside of the bargaining process, which was determined by the courts in the case against the Greenway School District in 2004,” Droubie said in a prepared statement provided to the NEWS.

“The district’s reasoning behind these decisions is unclear. Whether this is a negotiations tactic or not, this is not the way to go about making such changes,” he added.

Board action, cost impacts

Unable to fight past practices yet believing that such an application and interpretation by EMCI is inconsistent with an expired two-year contact, the Cambridge-Isanti School Board on Dec. 1 voted 6-1 to have Superintendent Bruce Novak implement salary step or lane advancement for eligible teachers and increase the district contribution for medical and dental insurance premiums according to the 2008-09 language from the expired 2007-08 and 2008-09 contract.

Board Member Anne Nelson motioned, “not happily,” she said, “but we need to move forward.” Gary Hawkins seconded, followed by Board Chairman Ed Hill, Clark Johnson, Jeanette Polzin and Dan Fosse.

Board Member John Carlson adamantly voted against, insisting the matter should go to court. “This is financial child abuse,” he emphasized.

“Today, these automatic steps, lanes and insurance increases carried forward will amount to more than $1,506,596 or an increase of 6.39 percent for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 contract period without any negotiated changes to the contract,” presented School Board Member and lead negotiator Dan Fosse before the board.

This further equates to the reduction of more than 26 full-time positions to offset the increase for the teachers, said Fosse, hinting this may only mark the beginning of such reductions depending on ongoing negotiations with other union groups.

Meanwhile, “negotiations with all remaining union employee groups will continue, and the school board intends to modify the contract language so this unfortunate dilemma will not occur again,” Fosse noted.

Sooner than later, budget reductions affecting jobs, positions, programs, class sizes and other areas are expected.

And the reductions are anticipated to be drastic, since the district was already faced with imminent cuts due to the recently failed levy that would have generated $3 million a year for 10 years and $450,000 in extra state aid in keeping C-I schools from cutting $2 million worth of student opportunities, programs, teachers and staff.

Perspectives on lawsuit

“The school district is expecting—like many of the individuals including the superintendent, district administrative team, non-union office staff and the instructional assistants who have already agreed to wage and benefit freezes—that other employee groups will be more cooperative in recognizing and responding to the needs of the school district and community,” Fosse presented.

“This will further exacerbate the economic problems District 911 faces,” he added, referring to the harsh economy and the failed levy.

Prior to the board’s action on the teachers’ union lawsuit, Droubie explained, “It’s (the suit) not good for the school system; it’s not good for the teachers; and it’s not good for the community. We wanted to settle this in house. We didn’t want to air our laundry out to the public.

“We would like to see community support by communicating with the district and its board to follow our negotiated contract,” Droubie concluded Monday evening.

Letter of intentions?

Confusion over financial outlooks and obligations within District 911 seemed to begin with a letter, dated June 2 of this year, from the school board to all district employees.

In it, the board expressed appreciation to each employee for his or her efforts in providing a quality education for students.

Further citing “challenging times,” the letter urged a strong sense of togetherness as the district is “faced with much uncertainty” in such areas as state aid, home foreclosure and operating levy impacts on revenue and stimulus money impacts.

“In order to maintain and continue the quality programs and instruction for District 911 students,” the letter continued, “the school board requests all employees to consider the following:

1. At the May 2009 school board meeting, all board members agreed they did not want to cut any more staff or programs.

2. Sacrifices will need to be made by everyone. This means wages, benefits, supplies and services will be considered to help meet the district’s financial obligations.”

However, Droubie among others didn’t realize the letter meant changes to continuing—or expired, in the eyes of the district—contracts.

One coach, for example, learned in August that his compensation, step and lane advancement for 2009-10, as he originally signed and dated on May 12, had been simply crossed out and replaced with the same numbers from the previous year.

Droubie noted the district mailed the amended version with no explanation other than the notice as contained in the June 2 letter.

In late August, Droubie said he approached Superintendent Novak about the amended contract, which turned out to be one of many, and further got the feeling that teachers were also to be impacted.

Background

Negotiation talks between the district and the EMCI teachers’ union began June 3, followed by several subsequent meetings.

Both parties agreed to the Interest Based Collective Bargaining (IBCB) negotiation meeting format in addition to using a mediator from the Bureau of Mediation with the understanding either party could opt out and resume traditional bargaining.

The district presented EMCI with a formal proposal on Sept. 21. EMCI presented a counter proposal on Nov. 11, and the district presented a counter proposal on that same date.

The district exercised its option to end the IBCB meeting format and also filed for traditional bargaining mediation at the Oct. 1 meeting.

EMCI then filed the unfair labor practice lawsuit against the district on Nov. 17. In response, the district canceled the scheduled mediation meeting Nov. 18.

In light of teacher contracts, Fosse on Dec. 1 cited state statute highlighting, “Any contract between a school board and an exclusive representative of teachers shall be for a term of two years, beginning on July 1 of each odd-numbered year.

A contract between a school board and an exclusive representative of teachers shall contain the teachers’ compensation including fringe benefits for the entire two-year term and shall not contain a wage reopening clause or any other provision for the renegotiation of the teachers’ compensation, according to Minnesota Statute 179A.20, Subd. 3, presented Fosse.

In past years, however, there has been a practice established in District 911 where step and lane advancement, as well as percentage increases for insurance contributions, were advanced for the next contract period—despite that a new contract had not yet been reached, approved or ratified by either the teachers’ union or the school board.

Comments (24)

Bob: Attorney? Maybe the school board could have checked with an Attorney BEFORE they violated contract law? Instead of AFTER the fact??? 1 December 02, 2009 jonz2008: ... Will criminal charges be considered against the district since the school board has tactily admitted to violating their side of a legally binding contract? Like it or not, the law is the law and applies to everyone. Could things have been handled differently? Obviously yes, but its definitely time for a leadership change at the school board level!! Given the issues of the last few months, we need new ideas and personnel with more tact and diplomacy. 2 December 02, 2009 DS: child abuse? I for one think my children's teachers do an excellent job. Regardless of the levy passing or not passing, the statement made by Mr. Carlson is so blatantly offensive that I cannot believe he uttered such a phrase. Maybe he needs to look in the mirror and ask himself if he belongs in the type of setting where he casts such bile as calling public teachers "child abusers" of any sort. Maybe he needs to take himself off the school board and let someone with a little more professional decorum handle the duties. 3 December 03, 2009 Rick: Are you kidding me? I have three kids in this district and I am very worried. Is this school board for real? Don't they understand law? Every fool in America understands what a signed contract means. Maybe there wouldn't be such huge problems here if the elected officials in charge weren't so stupid! 4 December 03, 2009 John: Sooo...... .....everyone take a pay freeze vs. 26 people lose their jobs? I guess it'll be okay.........if you're not one of the 26. 5 December 03, 2009 futuredadofastudent: ... It makes no sense to me why a union of people ask for an increase in pay when the district already needs to make cut after cut, year after year. I read articles in the newspaper week after week about how poorly the school is funded. The levy failed a month ago because the community is facing hard times. Most other unions within the district decided to take some sort of a freeze so they could help support the children of the district. It is beyond me why a group of people would want to up the budget by 1.5 million dollars when they were just voted against by the community members that pay their wages. DS.. I would consider this an abuse of finances and my childs education will not be enhanced with the 26 additional employees they are going to have to fire. I know what Mr. Carlson is talking about with his comments. If it were up to me none of the employees from the unions that took the freezes would be cut. Also, "airing the laundry out the the public" should happen. My neighbors and I pay the salaries of our district employees and if they saw an increase in pay was needed they would have voted yes. I hope Mr. Droubie sends his best regards to the 26 of his fellow District 911 staff members who are soon to be looking for employment with the millions that are out there already. 6 December 03, 2009 carl: the future is bright when my kid gets to be school aged there are only going to be six teachers left, but they will be millionaires!! 7 December 03, 2009 futuredadofastudent: contract Here it is: http://www.cambridge.k12.mn.us/~hresources/TeacherContract07-09.pdf Any negotations taking place after June 30 are fair game for the school board.. I need to read the letter dated June 2, but the paper claims that "sacrifices will need to be made by everyone." to me those are not negotiating terms. Its just a realistic view of what was inevitably going to and has happened. The freeze option was available any date after contract had expired. 8 December 03, 2009 Publicdiscussionisgood: If I am not mistaken..... while this discussion is important I think some people should read carefully the past articles in our newspaper about this issue. If I am not mistaken the contract that the teachers and the school board signed was on a previous budget cycle. Both sides agreed to the terms and then the school board later decided to take back said contract. Also I believe the loss of jobs in the district is because of the levy failure not because of this lawsuit issue those funds were allready allocated. Please correct me If my information is incorrect. I think the paper has it wrong. Further more the article states that the school board turned down a chance to mediate the circumstances on Nov. 18th. Seems to me that the School Board has its own issues to work out. As far as teachers become millionaires, sheer ignorance, not sure what type of public discourse that is supposed to enhance. People would be rushing to get their teaching degree, a problems some Universities have not had since post WWII and the Baby Boom. Mr. Carlson should be ashamed of himself, "financial child abuse" are you kidding, my children attend this school district, I have a hard time believiing the men and women who teach, guide, coach, and instruct our students are out to get all the money they can and furthermore do not have the best intentions of students in mind. While in other jobs when a wage is negotiated and signed between employer and employee, or between two companies or a contractor etc. and employer/company/contractor breaks said contract the most of us would expect to paid and would then take legal action if not. But somehow the legal action afforded to Dist. 911 employees is not a viable solution? 9 December 03, 2009 let's think: Think about it First and foremost, let's keep in mind that the lawsuit was not over money, rather the process of the School District unilaterally changing a contract. Not sure if everyone realizes how bad this is. Listen, they took signed contracts with a set amount and crossed them out and put them in back mailboxes in August and with no explanation. What other course of action do teachers have? What would you do if your mortgage company did this? How about this, next year they decide to cut their pay in half without negotiating. Would that be fair? Where to does it end? You need to stick to the rules of the game and in this case some of our school board elected officials under the leadership of Superintendent Novak don't seem to get this. Our school district would not be in this mess had the board of followed the process. Good leaders know the key to any organization is good communication, taking care of your people and sticking the systems in place. There are far to many intangibles other than money to be considered when you're in a people business like education. The board knew well before the lawsuit was filed that it was wrong, yet they didn't back down until a couple of days ago. None of the facts changed over the past 3 months. They only wasted time, money and energy of many people. The negotiations process has worked for many years and the teachers have done nothing different this year. As far as the 26 teacher cuts, I am embarrassed that the district would have jumped the gun and assumed this. Once again not sticking to the processes or is this just another immature way of lashing out at the teachers. Anyone knows that you wouldn't make statements that 26 teachers need to be cut in a meeting such as this. Wouldn't you have committees set up to look at options, let negotiations on all bargaining groups (including the teachers) finish, going to your building/department leaders or looking a your reserve fund balance? The issue of the economy and sacrifice continually comes up and the burden is put on the teachers. When the economy was outstanding, teachers never received big raises when many were making big bucks. Now when it's not so good and school employees make too much. Keep in mind teachers invest 4 to 6 years in college which is required. On the issue of sacrifice for the good of our kids, teachers also have pulled their weight. They are the ones with larger classes doing more work outside their contract hours. When kids come in hungry they feed them. When they don't have a snack they feed them. When they can't afford materials or a field trip they are the first to pay for it. When they don't have a ride after a sporting event a coach will give them a ride. The list could go on and on. Let's be honest about who has sacrificed in this school funding crisis for the good of students and stop beating up the ones who help our students the most. Last of all; let's remember what built The Middle Class. Unions have played a huge part in this. Your local teachers' union only wants a fair middle class wage, basic benefits and the right to collectively bargain in good faith. 10 December 03, 2009 say what: confused Dan Fosse states the following below, but I'm confused. If he was so sure, why did he give in to the lawsuit? Could it be that judges, lawyers and teachers understand more than him? The world is bigger than your own ideas. In light of teacher contracts, Fosse on Dec. 1 cited state statute highlighting, “Any contract between a school board and an exclusive representative of teachers shall be for a term of two years, beginning on July 1 of each odd-numbered year. A contract between a school board and an exclusive representative of teachers shall contain the teachers’ compensation including fringe benefits for the entire two-year term and shall not contain a wage reopening clause or any other provision for the renegotiation of the teachers’ compensation, according to Minnesota Statute 179A.20, Subd. 3, presented Fosse. 11 December 03, 2009 DS: ... The "freeze" the people are talking about is not a freeze. The district arbitrarily broke a contract. As I understand it, this was NOT a pay increase the teachers were to get, it is simply the continuation of the present contract. Doesn't the district have to negotiate before they implement these kinds of changes? As far as cuts go, I will be honest, I voted no on the levy. At that time we were told that if the levy did not pass that these kinds of cuts would have to be made, now they are telling us that the carry over of the present contract is causing the cuts? To me, I feel like I was lied to when they presented the levy or they are lying now...which one is it? Either way, this board cannot be trusted. CLEAN HOUSE! 12 December 04, 2009 MRS: Why are opinions written reviewed and not posted Does this mean censors remain in this town? Mr. Carlson, really your comments are so way off base and out of tune with reality it is scarey. To think that the most posts 'allowed' are those that are in tune with Mr. Carlson and Fosse - whose mentality is stuck in the 1960's. Unions have protected people. As I said in the post that was NOT printed, get rid of the excess assistant superintendents, assistant principals, assistant deans and all that excess fat and you will be able to afford not only 26 teachers - but close to 36 teachers given the salaries to the fat cats. 13 December 04, 2009 Editor: Web comment guidelines In response to viewer concerns over "censorship," this newspaper reserves the right to not post Web Comments if they are mean-spirited, in poor taste, contain profanity or other inappropriate language (such as name-calling) and libelous. 14 December 04, 2009 MRS: Good covering the real issue - is definitely was the law broken - it appears to have been. Education is much more important than the constant drive to push sports on our students. Is that better? 15 December 04, 2009 RJN: an employee Having worked in the school district for a very long time under many different school boards, what is happening now makes me very sad. In the past the school board and the teachers were on the same "side", all working for the education of our young people. When there were differences of opinion reps of the school board and of the teachers could sit together, discuss and rationally solve problems. The current school board views the teachers as the enemy, as though they are on one "side" and the teachers are on the other "side" and the students?? The students and their education are becoming incidental to this whole game. It has become more of a bullying game and a battle of who will win, the board or the teachers? Many of the board members have very little experience, or none, of what life is like in the classroom. Today's board is making their decisions as though the school district is a big business, without considering the real affects upon our children. Their decisions hinge only on the dollar, how to save another dollar. In the meantime they bash the teachers publicly and make every attempt to sway the public to view the teachers as the enemy. How very sad. We're supposed to be on the same side! 16 December 04, 2009 Taxpayer: Easy Fix. Get rid of all the fat from the top; assist. counselors, principals, admin. Then go to a performance based pay for the teachers. Last but not least, the school board needs to act in a fiscally conservative manner. Within one or two years, there will be no more budget problems. 17 December 05, 2009 rhs: ... it appears, over and over again, that the newspaper is "in bed" with the board! 18 December 05, 2009 Jim: taxpayer While I understand the desire to want to skim the fat, actually one of the worst things that you could do is install performance pay. There are countless studies out there both pro and con on the issue but all con studies state that there are countless hidden cost to installing and maintaining performance pay. One of the biggest questions is that who pays for the extra money? With the federal government dealing with their issues (war, health care, etc.)and the state dealing with their issues (declining tax base, etc), it would fall on the local community. If the failed levy told all parties one thing is that this community can not afford to be burned with extra responsiblities. I believe all aspects of the district should be examined and managed responsiblity but in my opinion, performance pay would be more of a problem than a solution. 19 December 07, 2009 pop jejo: The teacher's union is corrupt! I can't believe that in these times when people are losing there jobs and homes the teachers of district 911 would rather put 26 of their fellow teachers out in the cold than be reasonable. I guess it doesn't matter to them that they are going to take increases as they put 26 teachers out of work. I hope they have a great christmas as they sit fat and happy opening gifts that others can no longer afford to buy. I guess the real scrooges of christmas this year are the teachers of district 911 and their precious corrupt teachers union. This union has grown so powerful that even a bad teacher is untouchable. What ever happened to providing the best education in the world? It's no wonder we are behind now when we used to be the benchmark for the rest of the world to strive for. We all get compensated for doing a good job. They get it even if they don't do a good job. It's time to hold these teachers accountable and reward those that are good and terminate the ones that would just like to coast and turn in poor work. Bah-Humbug Dist. 911 teachers! 20 December 07, 2009 Mrs: Performance Pay Jim, I agree, performance pay is NOT the answer. In one instance a teacher decided to leave a school district (not 911) because the district had signed on to become a part of the joke Q-comp. The teacher stated that periodically, another teacher with the title of "mentor teacher" came around with a form that he was to sign (as well as other teachers) in order to be a part of the 'free money' handed out by our current governor's 'iniative'. Q-comp is 'supposed' to reward teachers that follow a mentor and attend all kinds of training to become a 'better' teacher based on performance. This performance is judged by the 'mentor teacher'. Quite the deal the mentor suppposedly mentors a teacher with less experience for a larger 'bonus'. This iniative robs from the general fund to pay for what is essentially a gimick. No performance pay does NOT work in any work place, not just in the educational system. If is subjective to whether or not the supposed 'mentor/evaluator' likes you or not - it is not based on qualifications. Anyone who fell for the Q-comp fiasco will be in for a surprise when it is not funded by legislature and the school board who pushed teachers to sign on and depend on this free money will have egg on their faces. 21 December 08, 2009 Jim: Unions in general Inregards to the previous poster about the "corrupt" teacher's union, I believe there is a general misconception about the purpose of unions in general. They are a part of the economic landscape to advocate for the rights of their clients to make sure that they are not being taken advantage of. Any union would have acted in a similar action as the district 911 union has acted protecting their workers. I have serious questions about the 26 positions coming as a result of the current contract or the contract that is being bargined. Both parties should act in good faith with each other. The district did not in this regard. You may disagree with the union's actions, you have that right but the union has a right to act to protect its rights as well. I would like to make sure that all rights are protected. Hard decisions will need to be made in the future and the district and staff should act in the best interest of the people they serve, the students and the community. As for the accountability of teaching staff, I am sure that they are held to a high level of accountability since test score and AYP is printed in the newspaper and widely discussed. If the community wants to improve performance of the students, I am sure the schools would welcome the help since it does take a community to foster educational as well as ecomomic growth. 22 December 08, 2009 legislationchangesneeded: ... It is time to call your legislators. PERLA is needed. We need to do away with Tenure. 23 December 10, 2009 Lisa: ... The school board already knew what they needed to pay in that contract they signed. So tell us now they will lose 26 teachers is just a way to make them selfs look good. 24 January 03, 2010

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