An agreement announced late today between the Westport Board of Education and the teachers union will result in about $1 million in budget savings and avoid most teacher layoffs.
Colleen Palmer: “pleased” with agreement. Dave Matlow/ WestportNow.com file photo
Superintendent of Schools Colleen Palmer, in an email to parents, said the board and the Westport Education Association (WEA) were “pleased” to announce the agreement on the teachers joining the state health plan.
“In recognition of the fiscal challenges the Board of Education faces for the 2018-2019 school year and in the spirit of collaboration, the Westport Education Association has agreed that the district may seek to move health insurance to the State Partnership Plan 2.0, effective September 1, 2018,” she said.
The agreement will help the board make up for a cut imposed by the Board of Finance on the proposed 2018-19 education budget following this week’s finance board restoration session. (See WestportNow April 25, 2018) Board of Education members had pledged to return savings to the town if agreement were reached with the teachers.
The Board of Education, which estimated all the unions joining the state plan would save about $1 million, will still have to address how to achieve $750,000 in budget savings already in process.
But the agreement means many teachers who had received layoff notices now can count on keeping their jobs.
“With this agreement, it will not be necessary for the board to move ahead now with the non-tenured teacher contract non-renewals that had been planned, and the board will be rescinding the related notifications,” Palmer said.
“As the budget is finalized, the board will determine whether and what reductions will be necessary. For any staff reductions that are still necessary for the coming school year, the board will follow the contractual reduction in force procedures that apply.”
The WEA was the last of seven education unions to agree to join the state plan. Its negotiators had said the teachers were holding out for a 3 percent reduction in premium cost sharing. Palmer said the agreement calls for a 1.5 percent reduction.
“Given cost reductions anticipated through the move to the State Partnership Plan 2.0, the board has agreed that the employee premium cost sharing amount for next year will be reduced by one and one-half percent (1.5 percent) to 19.5 percent,” she said.
“And the parties have further agreed that the employee premium cost sharing percentage will remain at 19.5 percent for the first year of the new contract, 2019-2020. As a matter of fairness, the board will extend to all employee groups the agreement to maintain employee cost sharing amounts without increase for 2019-2020.”
Palmer said the move to the state health plan in September “will be good for the entire school community.” She added: “ The Board of Education thanks the Association and all of the other employee groups for working with the board to reach this agreement.”
