State Dept. Of Education Official Addresses Neshaminy Strike

T affecting the Neshaminy School District community and prompting strong responses both in support and against the action.

To understand more about the state and local ramifications regarding the NFT's decision, Levittown Patch reached out to Pennsylvania Department of Education Press Secretary Tim Eller for clarification.

Although the NFT did not yet specify what date they plan to end the strike, they recently said they   

Eller said the union is not required to give the Department of Education any information other than the name of a contact person. With that in mind, the state has set limits in how many days they are legally allowed to remain on the picket lines. 

"The Pennsylvania Department of Education calculates a 'critical date' for subsidy purposes and to determine when the secretary may initiate injunctive proceedings against a school district and its teachers' union because a strike threatens the provision of 180 days of instruction," Eller said. 

Eller cited two sections in the Collective Bargaining Law for School Employees regarding the duration: 

Section 1161-A of the Public School Code authorizes the Secretary to initiate injunctive proceedings when the School District is unable to complete 180 days of instruction by June 30.

Section 1125-A of the Public School Code provides that if a strike or lockout will prevent the School District from providing 180 days of instruction by the later of June 15 or the last day of the School District’s scheduled school year, the parties shall submit to mandated final best-offer arbitration. The Department is providing this calculation of the June 15 "critical date" merely to assist the parties in complying with Act 88.

Eller said the department determines the "critical date" based on the following calculations: 

"Count total instructional days completed. Act 80 days are not instructional days, but are exceptions to instructional days, and therefore, are not counted in the calculation of total instructional days completed," Eller said. "Counting back from June 30, count every available instructional day."

During the , Neshaminy School District Superintendent Louis Muenker said the state's Department of Education confirmed to him earlier that afternoon that "the last day of the teachers' strike in order for students to finish in time is designated for Thursday, Jan. 19." Students would return to school Friday, Jan. 20.

However, Friday afternoon Neshaminy School Board President Ritchie Webb sent an open letter to Patch saying that the NFT had until 12 p.m. Saturday to confirm resuming work on Jan. 17.  

With the strike under way, school days impacted mean the Neshaminy School District calendar will likely be extended to include additional instructional days, but there are still be exceptions to which days can be regarded as instruction days, according to Eller.

"By statute, the following days are not available as instructional days:  Saturdays; Sundays; Memorial Day; the Fourth of July; Thanksgiving; Christmas; the First of January: and, if specifically approved by resolution of the Board of Directors prior to the beginning of the school year, up to five additional days specifically designated as official local school district holidays," Eller said.  

According to the Frequently Asked Questions section in a document recently posted by Neshaminy School District Superintendent Louis Muenker, "It is possible that K-11 students may be in school until June 30 in order to get the state mandated 180 days of instruction." The same goes for seniors in the district, "Graduation will occur after 180 days of instruction."

However, in regards to the calendar and make-up days, Eller said, "The district does not have discretion."

General information on collective bargaining (Act 88) can be found here.  

As of Monday, Jan. 16, no resolution has yet been reached between the school board and the NFT. Both parties, including supporters, hosted rallies Monday morning to bolster their cause. 

Will The State Get Involved In Labor Negotiations?

There has been a heavy response from students, parents, taxpayers and even commenters on Levittown and Southampton Patches about the state's role in contract negotiations. 

The main sticking points affecting the bargaining include, teacher health care benefits, salary levels, retroactive pay and the teachers' role in determining educational policies.

School board member Scott Congdon said at Tuesday's school board meeting "Who walks away from a job that can start at $47,000 a year and go to $98,000 in 10 years' time?"

"Our pay has been frozen for four years, as well as our salary increments for graduate work and those kinds of things," NFT President Louise Boyd said while addressing media prior to Tuesday's school board meeting. 

Congdon also questioned, "Who does the bare minimum with work-to-contract and get to keep their job?"

"I think it's disgusting the way they denigrate our staff. We have an excellent staff here. They've been working under terrible conditions with horrible media reports non-stop for the past three years," Boyd said.

While costs in the district have increased, the tax base has fallen because of the housing market and the board has been able to keep taxes at a zero percent increase, Congdon said. 

"It's a whole package process and we need the board to be engaged at all levels and they just haven't been," Boyd said. "Our school board is saying, 'No' to everything."

"The Department of Education does not get involved in labor negotiations. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry’s Bureau of Mediation assigns a staff person to work on each strike," Eller said.

The next round of talks are scheduled for Jan. 26.