MADAWASKA, Maine —The Madawaska School Committee is now backing off a plan to cut teaching salaries by nearly 10 percent and is looking to negotiate a new proposal with the teachers’ union.
After being mandated by residents last month to cut $525,000 from a proposed school budget, the five members of the school panel voted unanimously on Monday night to cut teacher salaries by 9.45 percent, reduce administrative salaries by 2 percent, and implement three furlough days.
But on Tuesday, the school committee received a letter from the Maine Education Association’s general counsel warning that the proposal could “constitute an unlawful refusal to bargain in good faith” and open the school department up to litigation.
“We are being told if we pursue [the 9.45 percent salary cuts] we can get into some heat so I guess we will have to back away from that,” Yves Dube, school committee chairman, said Friday.
Dube said the two sides need to go back to the table and discuss what salary reductions would be mutually agreeable to help reduce the budget.
Members of the Madawaska Education Association, which represents the local teachers, said Friday that the letter from the Attorney Shawn Keenan of the statewide union was a warning and not a threat to the school committee.
“Some people are asking us why we are suing our school,” said Gisele Faucher, a teacher and member local negotiating team. “We are not; we are just reminding them what the law says [and] that everything needs to be done the right way.”
The negotiating team had met with the superintendent and school committee for about five hours behind closed doors earlier on Monday. Teaching positions, academic and athletic programs and extracurricular activities were all on the chopping block as the school panel looked for ways to cut more than a half million dollars from the current fiscal year budget. It was during that meeting the teachers’ collective bargaining agreement was reopened for negotiation and the teachers reportedly offered to accept reducing salaries by 5 percent over three years.
“We went to the table and made a good honest effort,” Bonnie Plourde-Tingley, Madawaska fifth-grade teacher and co-president of the Madawaska Education Association, said Friday afternoon.
A few hours later on Monday, however, the school committee voted during the public hearing on the more drastic cuts to teacher salaries.
That led to the letter the next day from Keenan, who wrote, “Please be assured that any action by the [school] committee to unilaterally impose such a wage reduction or furlough days will constitute an unlawful refusal to bargain in good faith.”
Dube, the school committee chairman, said Friday, “Our proposal was only in bad faith if we applied that decision.
“We were hoping if we could get the teachers to agree on the cuts it would save programs, sports and jobs,” he said. “Now to get to the savings, it may hurt a lot more.”
Dube said he has asked the association to meet with the school committee at its earliest possible convenience.
On Friday Plourde-Tingley said the association has provided Dube with some possible meeting dates.
“It won’t be next week,” she said. “There are a lot of people we need to get together and this is a busy time of year for everyone.”
When the two sides do sit down, Plourde-Tingley said, she believes all talks will be focused on what is best for the children in Madawaska.
“The kids need to be educated, that is the biggest thing,” she said. “We definitely want to work with the school committee and we have been working with them.”
At some point the board will have to agree on the budget reduction proposals and take them to the voters at a special town meeting which can only be held 10 days after the budget warrant items are posted.
“We have got to meet to see if we can come up with something,” Dube said. “We are going to have to draw up the warrant shortly.”
Superintendent Terry Wood was out of the office and unavailable for comment on Friday.
But Faucher of the local teachers’ association said, “We know the superintendent has been working hard at her budget. We know she is looking at all possible avenues and we are hoping this will come to a resolution shortly.”
What an interesting turn of events. This is my favorite part: “We are being told if we pursue [the 9.45 percent salary cuts] we can
get into some heat so I guess we will have to back away from that,” Yves
Dube, school committee chairman, said Friday.
Oh, this doesn’t sound like a threat at all: “Now to get to the savings, it may hurt a lot more.”
If the teachers take a 9.45 % cut, then the administration should also. Period. No matter with who/what is in line with what salary across the state. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Period. Take a stand and stand WITH the teachers and not against them.
I think the School Committee is standing with WHO voted them IN…. The Taxpayers!
What makes you think teachers aren’t taxpayers? The Tea Party has come to town, and apparently Madawaska has no problem doling out corporate welfare. Twin Rivers will award it’s CEOs and managers hefty bonuses, paid for by the “The Taxpayers!”
Ok I’ll rephrase that….. The “majority” of the taxpayers… Look…I just live here! Going with the flow…cause deep down we all know whats going to happen anyway… and when it does…there will be a boost in the economy with all the “For Sale” signs that will be sold! And then… the school will close anyway cause some people will not be able to pay their taxes and then will come the real shortfall! I just hope I’m wrong and that everyone can come to an agreement that benefits everyone…
I think they stand w/themselves and not the STUDENTS which is who they are there to foster and make sure that they get a well rounded education.
The tea party townspeople who gave a handout to the mill are the ones who chose not to stand with the students.
Just who do you think will ever want to teach in this town when the board chooses to illegally impose 10% pay cuts while giving a multi-million corporate tax handout to the mill? People who you wouldn’t let walk past your child, that’s who!
And we ALL know how this is going to end…The mill will “stay” so long as it saves $50 million from its tax bill…and will THEN either vanish or demand ANOTHER tax slash.
Town is screwed.
The school committee needs to look at its mission statement.
If they need that kind of money, they should look at all the extra-curricular
areas first. This will have the least impact on what the mission statement says.
This will take more courage than to cut academic programs and teachers. Those programs become pay to play.Do they have the stomach for it?
Most extra-curricular budgets in the state account for about 1-1.5% of the overall budget. Cutting extra-curriculars is the cowardly way to handle a situation.
Yes it will help bring down the budget a little here a little there adds up . Just like a river it starts out as a small stream by the time it gets to the ocean its a big river
This is what was done at first and there was an outcry. Plus, even cutting all the extra-curricula won’t get anywhere near $520,000.
The sports programs don’t need to be cut completely…. I think more of the cost unfortunately should come to the parents. Thats the way it is everywhere else. It’s how it is with the Mustangs, and we have an excellent team to be proud of! Don’t know if the coaches are paid …but seems to me years ago when I was in school coaches were volunteer? But even cutting those “stipends” won’t bring us where this budget needs to be. Maybe we need to bring in a 3rd party….a school Super that is similar to our schools and compare the budgets and tell us how they do it…….
What else have you not figered in like water for showers. electricity for lights an to run the boiler to heat the water the oil that will be saved. money for gas for the bus to an from games. no pay for the bus driver plus other cost that go with sports.
Well, whatever the school board decides, just remember, DO NOT raise our taxes for the school system. We can no longer afford the high cost of education. My kids can go to college cheaper than they can with the Madawaska School Dept.
Evidently the school board has decided that it was about to embark on something illegal. Sad to say, If the cuts go through, the school will likely lose its accreditation, and if your kids and mine graduate with just 21 credits, they probably won’t even be able to get into college.
it would concern me that a School Board would not understand that the road they are considering to go down constitutes in illegal activity …. and they are setting policy for the school system? The superintendent is supposed to guide the board in making decisions. Sounds like the Supt. wasn’t paying attention in School Law when they covered collective bargaining laws.
make the cuts that you originally proposed and move on. See how long before they come to you for relief
How about a 9.5 reduction for admins and a 2% one for teachers? See how the committee likes that one!
If Madawaska can’t budget for a school that will offer good education and extracurricular activities, maybe they’re better off closing the school. Students could be transported by bus to better schools for less than Madawaska is spending now, and teachers that no longer work in Madawaska could be hired by other schools to handle the overflow.
Sounds like a real good incentive to get quality teachers. Reduce their pay.