Sycamore Taxpayer

Indian Hill teachers (new contract effective Nov. 1, 2011, is valid for 20 months) will get a one-time payment of 0.75 percent of their base salaries the first year and 1 percent the second.
The contract also includes:
- No automatic salary schedule step increase.
-An increase to 15 percent in the teachers’ contribution to health and dental insurance (from 10%).
- A new standards based evaluation system and formation of a Teacher Evaluation Task Force.
- Formation of a Differentiated Compensation Task Force which will review pay based on the new evaluation.
- A reduction in force based on evaluations rather than just seniority.
- Less paid sick leave for part-time work.

… the contract creates a new model and one that reflects the
educational reform taking place in this country, said Supt. Knudson.

… Board Pres Barber  said It “is groundbreaking in laying the
foundation for a collaborative approach to a new standards-based evaluation system,”

Source: INDIAN HILL Teacher’ contract in effect Forrest Sellers
Community Press Dec. 31,2011.  (Note: the newpaper article is 2 months after the historic contract was consumated)

========

. Indian Hill EVD Supt. Jane Knudson will retire in next year.
. Additionally, the (Indian Hill) board approved pay and benefits for non-teaching staff in the district.
. Non-teaching staff will receive a one-time payment of 0.75 percent in their base salaries the first year and a 1.0 percent increase in their base salary the second year.
. The contribution non-teaching staff make for their health and dental insurance was increased and automatic salary schedule step increases were eliminated.
Source: Indian Hill school leader will retire By Forrest Sellers Community Press 12/28/11 A3

============================

Ohio school districts already are cutting thousands of jobs in anticipation of losing funding, even as unions and other education groups lobby hard at the Statehouse to get some of it restored.

In Cincinnati Public Schools, 226 jobs have been cut, including 145 teaching positions. …nearly all of those teacher cuts will be jobs left unfilled after resignations and retirements; only one teacher and 18 other were laid off.

In Cincinnati suburbs, school boards approved at least 684 job cuts, including hundreds of potential teacher layoffs.

Columbus City schools eliminated 260 equivalent full time jobs; Cleveland eliminated more than 800 jobs; Dayton cut nearly 300 jobs; Medina cut more than 70;New Richmond won’t replace 13; Oak Hills 30 job reductions; Oak Hills and Wyoming share one treasurer; West Clermont cuts 80; The OEA union knows of 2806 laid off, 968 retired as of May 19.

The left-leaning Innovation Ohio think tank estimates 25,000 teaching and support staff positions will be lost by the end of 2013 under the (governor’s) plan.

Gov. John Kasich’s $55.6 billion, two-year budget includes $6.4 billion in education aid in its first year and $6.5 billion in its second – up 1 percent the first year and 2 percent the second. If approved, it would take effect July 1.

But groups representing school boards and school business officials say that the financial loss to districts is much bigger; lost federal stimulus funding and two big tax policy changes contained in the Ohio budget will mean districts will see $3.1 billion in overall losses the next two years.

Kasich spokesman said no district will take more than a 7.9 percent hit and most will see a 4 percent to 5 percent decrease in federal, state and local funding.

Ohio school count losses
Job cut mount as state budget reworked
By Lisa Cornwell AP and Denise Smith Amos The Enq. May 26, 2011 C1

=======================================================

ATTENTION   Schools are NOT listed in alphabetical order

 

Kings teacher contract extended
4-year deal freezes base pay through 2011-2012

… that freezes base pay for instructors in the Warren County district through 2011-2012 school year. The new labor pack will also freeze individual teacher step increases in pay, which are based on seniority and certification.
.   Base pay will increase 1 percent in 2012-2013 and then 1.75 percent for each of the last two years of the contract.
.   Step increases could return in the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school ears – for eligible teachers – if the state’s level of tangible personal property tax reimbursements remain the same during those years as it was during 2012-2013.
.   The four-year contract length is a rare, longer-than-usual agreement for King’s 250-member teachers’ union and district officials touted it as bringing stability to future labor costs.
.By Michael D. Clark The Enquirer 6/22/2011

———————————————————————————————–

 .   Lebanon’s 300-member teacher union agreed to adopt a new contract that freezes base pay and seniority-based “step increases” for the next three years.
. Seven teaching jobs will be eliminated. District administrators also agreed to a 3 percent cut in pay.
.   But even with the $3.5 million in cutbacks, Lebanon still faces a $3 million shortfall–and a projected budget deficit in 2014 of $10 million – without a new local operating tax hike.
.   Lebanon joins other districts – including Lakota, Little Miami, Monroe, Mason and Sycamore schools where teachers have agreed to the historically rare concession of freezing both across-the-board pay hikes but also individual teacher “step increases” based on seniority or educational certification.
.   The board in July will decide whether to put another operating tax on the November ballot to make up for the remaining $3 million deficit.
.   District officials are also waiting for the final state budget on school funding to be approved by a June 30 deadline before deciding on whether to pursue another tax hike and if so, the size and type of ballot issue.
Source: Lebanon schools cut $3.5m Teachers By Michael D. Clark The Enquirer 6/21/11 B3

———————————————————————

LOCKLAND
Teacher pay plan up for approval
The Lockland school board Thursday is expected to approve a three-year agreement with teachers that freezes base pay and eliminates step increases through the end of June 2014. However the board is considering a one-time stipend equaling 1 percent of an educator’s base salary or a $1,500 bonus to educators who attain certain level of “professional growth points.”

The Enquirer. 6/7/11, B1

——————————————————————————

Fairfield approves teacher contract. By Sue Kiesewetter 6/18/11 C3

—————————————-

Fairfield
Teachers OK pay freeze in Fairfield
By Sue Kiesewetter The Enquirer June 10, 2011

. Teachers have approved a new contract that freezes their pay for three years and is expected to save the district about $2.2 million over that period.
. Base pay and most step increases both would be frozen for three school years, said Randy Oppenheimer, district spokesman. The school board will vote on the contract June 16. Update: Approved
. But even those savings and earlier budget cuts by the Board of Education won’t be enough to keep the district off the November ballot, school officials said.
. “We know that they’re facing the same rising prices at the gas pumps and the food store that everyone else is, and they have still come through and agreed to a contract that represents a multimillion-dollar savings for the school district,” said board President Jerome Kearns.
. This spring the school board approved a $2.4 million cost-reduction plan for the upcoming school year that closed the kindergarten center, eliminating busing in grades 10-12 and reduced staffing.
. Treasurer Nancy Lane has recommended that the board put a money issue on the November ballot. The issue is still needed, Kearns said, although it may be smaller because of the concessions in the contract. Voters last approved an operating levy seven years ago.
. The only increase in pay teachers would be given is a step increase if an individual earns an advanced degree. The proposed contract received overwhelming support from those who voted, said Tim Adams, president of the Fairfield Classroom Teachers Association.
. Of the 400 members that voted, 331 – or 82 percent – voted in favor, Adams said. There were 603 educators who could have cast a ballot.
. Besides freezing pay, the agreement calls for teachers to begin paying 10 percent of the cost of their dental coverage in January. The following January they will also pay 20 percent of their medical coverage, up from 15 percent.  

————————————————————————————-

Lakota teachers got a new contract Monday evening that freezes most pay for three years, but the savings won’t spare the schools from $10.2 million in budget cuts starting in August.

The Lakota board voted unanimously to approve both the new teachers’ contract and a package of $10.2 million in cuts for next school year.

(The board) warned that the district still faces a budget shortfall in 2013. And voters, who last year rejected two proposed school tax hikes, may see a new tax on the ballot later this year.

The $10.2 million in personnel and program cuts from Lakota’s estimated annual $160 million operating budget for 2011-12 school year will eliminate at least 76 teaching and six non-teaching positions.

For the first time in Lakota’s 54-year-history, teachers will see not only an across-the-board pay freeze but also a hold on all individual “step increases” except for those who add to their educational credentials.

Teachers also agreed to concessions that could see the amount teachers pay for health coverage rise to 15 percent of the cost for their individual plan by the pact’s third year.

The average salary for Lakota teachers is $59,000. The statewide average is $55,600.

(In April, the board voided its current two-year labor contract, citing a projected budget deficit of $28 million in 2013 and $10 million in personnel and program budget cuts proposed for next school year. Source: 5/21/11 C3 Michael D. Clark, The Enquirer)

Lakota board OKs pay-freeze contract
By Michael D. Clark
May 24, 2011, The Enquirer B3

———————————————————————————–

LIBERTY TWP. (Lakota)
Teachers in Greater Cincinnati’s second largest school system may soon approve a new contract that could freeze all types of pay.
…Negotiations between Lakota Schools and the district’s 1,190-member teachers’ union have produced a tentative contract, Lakota officials said Friday.
…In April, the Lakota school board voided its current labor contract, citing a projected budget deficit in 2013 of $28 million and $12.2 million in sweeping personnel and program budget cuts for next school year.
…Both sides have been negotiating since.
…Both an across-the-board freeze of pay and the first-ever hold on individual teachers’ “step increases” could be part of a new contract.
…With nearly half of Southwest Ohio’s school districts either planning or considering tax issues on the ballot this year – including Lakota – more area teacher unions are agreeing to step pay freezes.
…Step pay raises are independent of regular salaries and are determined for qualified teachers by a variety of factors including seniority, teaching specialty and certification.
…Hamilton County’s Loveland Schools saw teachers recently agree to rare step pay freezes as did teachers in Warren County’s Mason Schools.
…Lakota officials declined Friday to reveal the proposed contract’s details. Lakota teachers union president Sharon Mays did not respond to phone messages seeking comment.
…Lakota officials said they would release details of the tentative contract Monday.
…Any proposed contract would have to be approved by the Lakota union members and that vote could happen later next week.
…The practice of teacher unions agreeing to freeze base pay going into school levy campaigns is commonplace, but what is new locally is the trend of expanding a contractual freeze to include individual step raises.
…Almost all Ohio school districts spend about 85 percent of their annual operating budget on labor costs.
…Lakota suffered two operating tax levy losses at the ballot last year.

Source: All-pay freeze seen at Lakota
No step-up for teachers
Lakota: Freeze would extend to step raises
By Michael D. Clark
mclark@enquirer.com
May 14, 2011 C1

————————————————————————————————–

Lakota Schools’ projected budget shortfall will balloon to $28 million by 2013…

… the board voted to unanimously exercise its right to void the second year of its contract with teachers and reopen negotiations for a new labor pack to help the district avoid insolvency.

Lakota officials had recently proposed $12.2 million in sweeping personnel and program cuts for the 2011-12 school year,…

State funding to Lakota would be $16 million less than the previous biennium budget…

… Lakota Treasurer Jenni Logan told the board, “We cannot sustain our current operations. No action is not an option.”

The teacher contract, which included across-the-board pay freezes both years and higher benefit payments by teachers, was approved last August. But the contract did not impact individual teachers’ “step increases” in pay. Those raises for some teachers are determined by seniority, certification and teaching specialty and are not bound by the labor agreement.

The (new contract) talks could include the elimination of teacher step increases as now allowed under Ohio’s recently passed Senate Bill 5 – which curtails public employee collective bargaining.

Source: Lakota voids teacher contracts for 2011-12. Lakota: Will renegotiate teacher pact. By Michael D. Clark, The Enquirer 4/12/11 B1

———————————————————————————————————–

Cincinnati Public Schools’ BOE voted to eliminate 175 jobs, including 145 teaching positions.
.
But only one of those reductions could be classified as a layoff. The rest of the positions will be empty as of the end of the school year due to resignations and a record number of retirements.
.
The district accepted resignation notices from more than 150 teachers this year.
.
The retirements come in advance of potential reforms in the State Teachers Retirement System and the impact of changes to Ohio’s collective bargaining legislation.
.
In all, it is cutting 208 jobs, or about 4 percent of the work force… saving roughly $10 million. Schools across the state are chopping programs, cutting staff and asking taxpayers to pass levies because of deep cuts in state funding, including the elimination of one-time federal stimulus dollars and tax policy changes.
.
It must pass a budget by June 30.
.
In other action, the district also: Voted 5-2 to pursue a first-of-its-kind partnership to let a nonprofit foundation administer its extracurricular activities to save the district money.
.
Source: Cincinnati schools cutting 175 jobs. All but one to be unfilled vacancies. By Jessica Brown THE ENQUIRER 4/26/11 B1

==============================================

The Indian Hill BOE recently approved a salary freeze for its employees in 2011-2012.

“At this time, all employee salary and hourly compensation for the 2011-2012 school year will be based on current year salary,” said Barber. We believe this is the most prudent way to proceed in light of potential changes and current uncertainties due to Senate Bill 5.”

Senate Bill 5, which aims to overhaul collective bargaining rights for public employees in Ohio, was passed by the Senate in early March>

Among the provisions of the bill are the elimination of statutory salary schedule and steps and a requirement that salary be performance- based. The bill could go into effect as early as July 1. However, a possibility exists that a referendum of the bill could be placed on the November ballot.

Supt. … said approving a step salary increase at this time could potentially be in violation of state law.

The current two-year employee contract will expire in November. That contract granted teachers a 1.24 percent salary increase in the 2009-2010 school year and a 1.75 percent increase in the 2010-2011 school year.

Indian Hill schools freeze staff salaries
By Forrest Sellers
Northeast Suburban Life May 18, 2011, A2

——————————————————————————————–

Districts announce freezes on wages By Denise Smith Amos 5/3/11 Enquirer B3

Indian Hill’s school board recently decided on a one-year salary freeze for all employees. District officials are scheduled to go into negotiations for a new contract in a few weeks, but the existing contract doesn’t expire until November.

The district employees 309 people, including 185 teachers.

Indian Hill study to help reduce costs, By Forrest Sellers Northeast Suburban Life 4/20/11  A5

A “benchmarking” forum last week provided a look at how the district compares academically and financially to other schools.

Data in a variety of areas including student achievement, expenditures per pupil, facilities costs, teacher salaries and transportation was presented by…

Comparisons were made with 13 school districts in Ohio, including …Forest Hills, Madeira, Mariemont, Sycamore and Wyoming … as well as 10 school districts nationally.

Some of the actions the district will take to reduce costs will include an energy audit, review of events and buying software ….

…Richard Cocks said, “Forty minutes were spent discussing academic performance while only 20 minutes were devoted to a whitewash of the district’s dismal financial performance.”

Cocks cited concerns about per pupil spending. The I.H. SD spends $15,372 per pupil annually. The state average is $10,512 per pupil.

Board member Tim Sharp said cost per pupil expenses will continue to be monitored. “We are constantly looking at ways to keep cost per pupil down,” he said.

==============================================

The (Anderson TWP) Forest Hills school board Monday night approved a three-year contract with its teachers that freezes salaries and step increases for at least two years but doesn’t reverse previously announced layoffs.
.

The contract, which covers more than 500 teachers, would keep salaries the same for the next two years, but allow for salary negotiations in the third year.
.

It would postpone the effects of a new state law that swaps out seniority considerations in favor of performance measures for determining teacher salaries.
The average teacher in Forest Hill made $65, 484 last year; the statewide average teacher pay was $55,958.
.

Recently the school board cut 23 jobs – including laying off 13 people – for the next school year and warned about more cuts.
.

Supt. … said that this agreement, coupled with other reductions, will save nearly $8 million over two years. The district’s total budget is about $77 million annually.
.

The district has been rated Excellent or Excellent with Distinction, the highest rating, for the past 10 years.
.

Its five-year forecast presented in December showed a negative operating balance of $6.26 million in fiscal year 2013. The revised forecast presented Monday shows a positive cash balance of about $1.6 million that year.
.

Teachers in the 7,700-strudent district had a raise of 2 percent in base salary for the current school year but had a one-year wage freeze the prior year.

Source: Forest Hills OKs teachers’ contract
Deal freezes salaries while keeping layoffs
By Denise Smith Amos
The Enquirer, 5/18/11, B5

—————————————————————————————————

Forest Hills to cut 13 staff positions By Forrest Sellers The Enquirer 4/20/11 B6
.
The FHSD Board of Education agreed Monday to eliminate 13 positions. Those include administrative, teaching, classified and non-teaching staff.
.
Jackson said staff will be reduced by 23 positions next school year because several are retiring or resigning.

————

This is in addition to about 44 lost jobs over the past two years and other reductions, said Randy Smith, board president.

… Kasich’s two-year budget proposal will result in an 18.9 percent reduction in state funding for next year, or about $3.8 million, and another 10.5 percent reduction, or $2.1 million, the following year, Treasurer Rick Toepfer said.

Forest Hills schools serve about 7,700 students with an annual budget of $77 million and nearly 800 employees this year.

State funding accounted for about 40 percent of the district’s revenue; now it’s around 33 percent, Toepfer said.

Source: Forest Hills schools may cut deeper. By Denise Smith Amos The Enquirer 4/23/11 B3

=====================================================================

Teachers agree to pay freeze in Reading schools By Denise Smith Amos 4/20/2011 The Enquirer, B6
.
Reading Community teachers agreed unanimously to rescind a planned 2 percent pay raise and to freeze salaries or “step” increases over the next two years to save the district $1.1 million on its $14.2 million budget.
.
He (Supt. Scott Inskeep) added that voters won’t be asked to raise taxes for schools this year or next.
.
… Reading is slated to receive $500,000 less from the state near year, a 9 percent cut, or about $374 less per pupil for the 1,500-student district, Inskeep said.
‘
The teachers union agreed to rescind their raise for the 2011-12 school year, accept no increase in base salary through 2013-14, and to take no step increases through the 2012-13 school year.
.
The rest of Reading’s staff, including administrators, will have pay freezes for the next two years, Inskeep said.

 

==================================================================

Southwest to close Hooven school, cut staff By Cindy Kranz Enquirer 4/16/11 C3 excerpts
.
Harrison – Southwest School board approved $2.1 million in budget reductions Thursday. Hooven Elementary School will close.

The Budget reductions include: (about 47 positions, instituting fees for sports, eliminate HS busing, etc)…… The reductions bring the 3,500-student district’s annual budget down to about $28 million.
.
“It doesn’t get us in the black in the fifth year of the five-year forecast,” Superintendent Chris Brown said of the reductions. “We’re not done with the cuts. We’ll be back. Nothing as severe as this, but until the economy improves we’re going to have to continue looking at that. We do not anticipate, nor do we feel, that this is the time to ask for a levy.”
.
Also, the board approved base salary pay freezes for all administrative, teaching and classified employees for the 2011-12 school year.
.
In addition, teachers will give up step increases in 2012-13.

===================================================================

Mason – School officials here are in the final phases of historic budget cuts and are crediting those reductions with helping the district avoid the fate of many other area districts headed to voters later this year for more money.
.
With five of seven Greater Cincinnati district’s tax issues rejected this week – and an excepted crowded school tax ballot in November – the $3.6 million in personnel cuts in Mason Schools are key to staying off the 2011 ballot, officials said Thursday.
.
The Warren County school community, they said, had already signaled last fall that it was not receptive to more school taxes.
.
An operating levy on the November ballot was easily defeated in the first loss since 1970 of that sort of school tax.
.
Mason will have 53 fewer jobs – including 20 fewer teaching positions – when the 2011-2012 school year starts in August..
.
“We’ve had to make a lot of tough decisions to cut costs, which is something that our community has asked us to do, following the levy defeat in November,” said Mason Schools spokeswoman Tracey Carson.
.
“So, next year we are reducing $5.8 million in total from our budget – and $3.6 million of that is coming from reducing these staff positions,” said Carson, who added that these latest cuts come on the heels of 32 positions already eliminated at the beginning of this school year.
.
“All of these reductions, and the agreement with our teachers to take pay freezes for two years, will keep our district off the ballot in 2011,” she said. “It is never easy to reduce positions, and it is even harder to tell valuable, talented staff members that they no longer have a position.”
.
As president of the Mason teachers’ union, Karrie Nelson agreed, saying the budget reductions are essential to maintaining the district’s financial viability.
.
“The alternative wasn’t an option,” said Nelson, whose union members last month agreed to a two-year contract extension that includes pay freezes that also put a hold on individual teacher’s step raises.
.
“We have already taken what our community was telling us and our point in this is that we are meeting the district at least halfway,” Nelson said of the total cuts, which also include 12 percent of central office workers as well as some school building administrators, teaching assistants and clerical workers. “These cuts are across the board and everyone is doing their part.”

Source: Mason schools avoid tax vote By Michael D. Clark. The Cincinnati Enquirer May 6, 2011 C3

——————————————————————————————-

Mason teachers joined the ranks of area teacher unions giving up pay hikes in hopes of keeping their jobs and bringing more stability to troubled school district finances.

The Mason Board of Education voted unanimously to accept a rare initiative by Mason’s teacher union, whose members asked for a contract extension of two years, freezing their base pay but also placing a hold on automatic “step increases” in pay for some of its members until 2013.

The unusual move by teachers means Mason voters will not see a new operating school tax on the ballot in November, as school officials had planned.

Tom Ash, director of government relations for the buckeye Association of School Administrators, said the trend of scaled-back teacher contracts is spreading.

“We are receiving reports from the field that districts and their unions are reaching agreements earlier and are extending current agreements that may not expire until next year. I believe that this results from a variety of issues. Probably some of the agreements results from Senate Bill 5 and uncertainty over negotiating under the new legislation,” Ashbury said.

Karrie Nelson, president of Mason Schools’ 700-member teacher union, countered that local community priorities played more of a role than Senate Bill 5.

“Our main motivation is what the community desires and they spoke very loudly last fall when they voted our (operating) tax levy down,” Nelson said.

It was the first school operating tax in Mason to lose since 1970.

“We want to make sure the kids did not and we all want to do our part to help the district and ultimately the students,” Nelson said.

Note: Loveland, North College Hill and Lakota schools joined the trend.

In most districts, payroll costs make up about 85 percent of the total budget.

…. What has changed is that now unions are pushing harder to negotiate such pay freezes and putting on hold step increases, which kick in automatically and independently of labor contracts to teachers who qualify.

“We are certainly in the short term entering a new phase of move away from step increases,” Damon Ashbury, spokesman for the Ohio School Boards Association, said Tuesday.

Ashbury and other said the trend is more prevalent among Southwest Ohio districts, where nearly half of school systems are considering or planning to place school tax issues on the ballot sometime this year.

“And Senate Bill 5 is driving some of these discussions,” Ashbury said.

Cincinnati attorney C. Bronston McCord lll has more than 15 years’ experience helping school boards negotiate labor contracts. He said the early impact of Senate Bill is undeniable. “The landscape for school labor negotiations is going to change immensely, … Unions are alarmed at the provisions of this law, and , in my estimation, their offers to rollover contracts are an attempt to retain the benefits contained in the union contracts to the extent they can while the legal machinations over Senate Bill play out,” he said.

Source: Mason teachers sacrifice pay hike to hang on to jobs. By Michael D. Clark. The Enquirer 4/13/11 A1, A8

=================================================================

…The (West Clermont) school board also voted 3-1 to approve new two-year contracts for the bargaining unions representing the district’s 482 teachers and 160 non-certified employees.
…One board member was absent. Both unions’ existing contracts were set to expire this summer. The new contracts were set to expire this summer. The new contracts call for health care concessions – the district switched to a plan with higher employee co-pays – and gives no increases in base pay.
…Source: W. Clermont pay-to-play fees to go up. Now $50, could rise to $495. By Kellie Geist-May Communitypress.com. 4/8/11 C6

==============================================================

Princeton: Staff  sacrifice appreciated
Contract freezes teacher salaries for three years

By Kelly McBride, Northeast Suburban Life June 8, 2011 page A3

…
.   The agreement, reached May 27, included a 1 -percent salary reduction with two fewer days for professional development, a three-year salary freeze, and higher contribution rates of 15 percent for health and dental premiums, along with health insurance changes that will decrease district costs by $500,000.
.   The contract agreement wrapped up $10 million in budget cuts for the district of 5,600 students.
.   ”We appreciate the sacrifice of our great teachers, support staff and administrators,” Superintendent Gary Pack said.
.   “They understood the difficult situation facing the school district and made meaningful concessions over the next three years,” he said. “Times are difficult in our school district, but Princeton is a family and we pull together to face our financial obligations and still provide quality instruction and programs to our students.”
.   ”Everybody’s pitching in to get the budget to work,” Moore (school board president) said, “and still have a high quality of education.”
.   Pack said the $13.7 million that Princeton has cut in the past two years has reduced the per-pupil spending by more than $2,000 per student.
.   The district had recently reached a three-year deal with support staff, and had frozen pay for administrators.
.   Princeton High School teacher Alan Bates, who represented the Princeton Association of Classroom Educators, did not respond to requests for comment.

——————————————————————

Princeton has new teacher contract. Princeton School District and its teacher union on Friday unveiled their new three-year contract that includes a freeze in base pay and seniority step increases. The deal also calls for a 1 percent salary reduction as a result of working two fewer days for professional development, higher contribution rates (15 percent) for health and dental premiums and health insurance changes that will lower insurance costs to the district by $500,000. Princeton recently announced a three-year deal with its support staff, as well as compensation reduction and pay freeze for administrators. The 5,600-student district foresees no further budget cuts, having reduced its spending by $10 million going into next school year.

Source: The Cincinnati Enquirer. Section C May 28, 2011 New Briefs

————————————————————————————-

Princeton

As it tries to make ends meet with less, the Princeton Board of Education has frozen salaries for administrators and exempt staff, and has cut health benefits.
.
The two-year salary freeze will include then superintendent, as well as other administrators.
.
“Like other business these difficult economic times, we have to freeze salaries and cut benefits while at the same time asking people to do a lot more,” said Steve Moore, school board president.
.
“Over the last two years, we have cut over 40 percent of Princeton’s administrative positions, but the same work needs to be done,” he said. “As stated, they are not making less.
.
“The financial climate in which we find ourselves has called for some very tough decisions,” Hawkins said. “It necessitates a change of mind-set for everyone involved in Princeton, as we strive to maintain the excellence that has been our tradition while tightening our belt.
.
“With the reduced income from the state we are challenged with evaluating and reducing all of our costs,” school board member Sandy Leach. “We felt the salary freeze for our administrators and the reduction in benefits was the right thing to do, since we are asking that of all employees.
.
Princeton cuts slice into health benefits, freeze pay
By Kelly McBride
Northeast Suburban Life 5/18/11, A5

————————————————————————————-

Princeton

Superintendent Gary Pack said that the 5,600-student district will lose 20 percent of its teachers, 45 percent of its administrators and 16 percent of its support workers.

“Princeton City School District has never faced the financial crisis we are facing today,” he told the somber crowd.

“It is painful and disheartening to have to lay off great teachers and support staff and administrators,” he said. “But we need to move our budget toward balance, that today has a $12 million hole in it.

The $80 million operating budget will decrease $12 million by next year, and it’s a challenge the district will face every year until at least 2025, as it struggles to cut $2.4 million annually, to balance its budget due to state budget cuts that included the reduction in funds for business and utilities taxes.

Source: Pack: District cuts are ‘historic decision’ Class sizes concern for teachers By Kelly McBride, Northeast Suburban Life 4/20/11 A3

—————————–

…Princeton’s City Schools announced a contract agreement Thursday with one of its labor unions and a stalemate with another.
… The district reached a three-year contract with its support staff union that calls for no pay raises or automatic “step” raises for the next two years and requires workers pay more for health care. Workers’ pay will be cut further through reducing the number of paid training days.
…The district, however, declared an impasse with its teachers union.
…That means a state mediator will intervene.
…The district laid off 111 workers April 4, including 70 teachers, reducing the union’s membership to about 394. The contract expires June 30.
…Source: Princeton staff has deal; teacher union holds out The Enquirer 4/8/11 C4
—————————————————————
The Princeton school board plans to cut another $4 million through contract negotiations.

Source: Princeton revises job-cut figure to 110. By Jessica Brown The Enquirer 4/2/11.

==================================================================

The Loveland school board unanimously approved a one-year teacher contract extension that freezes salaries and “step” increases until June 30, 2013.

The extension, which teachers already voted to ratify, comes even though the existing contract doesn’t expire until June 30, 2012. School officials and teachers were motivated to extend the contract because of changes in Senate Bill 5, which would limit public unions’ bargaining powers and eliminate step raise increases and other protections based on seniority.

The teachers’ contract extension means Loveland saves more than $500,000 a year and it buys time so the district can create a merit-pay plan, he (Superintendent John Marschhausen) said.

“This allows us time to develop a value-added pay scale,” Marschhausen said. “It allows some flexibility … in developing a fair pay scale.”

The extension retains the current contract language dictating layoff procedures, evaluations and employee benefits packages.

There are no promises that layoffs won’t happen. Marschhausen said, the extended contract time, teachers know that they’ll be in a last-in, first-out pattern.

Union officials said the extension was an attempt to help the Loveland schools reduce costs.

Loveland serves 4,700 students, employs about 279 teachers.

He district has a 3.5-mill levy proposal on the May ballot that is projected to generate $2.7 million a year in annual revenues, making up for an expected loss of about $2.8 million from federal, state and other funds.

The levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an additional $107 per year.

If voters reject the levy, the board has already voted to ….

“We believe ….. “, said Sean Thompson, a high school teacher and president of the Loveland Education Association.

Source: Loveland extends teacher contract. Deal, already approved by union, freezes salaries until 2013. By Denise Smith Amos, The Enquirer, Wednesday, April 6, 2011 C3

==================================================================

The North College Hill proposed teacher contract would “have no step increases for each of the next three years. It also would freeze base salaries for next year, raise them 1 percent the following and 1 percent the year after.” The teachers are expected to vote on the contract Monday …

Source: Board to meet on teachers contract. The Enquirer. Local News March 30, 2011 B3

===================================================================

Oak Hills

The Oak Hills school board vote to eliminate 30 positions from its books for the next school year, but only half of those reductions are expected to result in layoffs, district officials said.

Oak Hills employees about 900 people (Buckeye Institute 2010 data – 1145; ODE 1030) , including 525 teachers (ODE 412-462).

At least 15 school districts in the Cincinnati region have announced cuts in teaching and other staff for the upcoming school year.

(Superintendent) Yohey said these reductions and other cuts, which may total $4 million a year, will enable the district to stop deficit spending.

“Our target is to not spend more than we take in,“ he said.

Yohey called the district’s finances stable and said the board and administrators are not planning to ask voters to approve a new school levy.

Source: Oak Hills school board eliminates 30 positions By Denise Smith Amos The Enquirer May 5, 2011 C3

—————————————————————–

Oak Hills and Indian Hill school district officials have announced they are freezing employees’ salaries and wages.

Oak Hills Superintendent Todd Yohey said last week the district reached an agreement with all employees and their unions to implement a two-year salary and wage freeze, which includes a freeze on all “step” increases. Step increases go to educators at specified interval in their careers based on years of experience, education and training.

In total, about $4 million will be cut from the district’s $65 million annual budget, Yohey said. The district employs 800 to 900 people and serves about 8,100 students.

The district wasn’t scheduled to go into union contract negotiations until 2013. Yohey said that projected state cuts and the passage of Ohio Senate Bill 5, which revamps union bargaining and benefits, “brought all the parties to the table.”

Several positions also will be cut, he said, declining to be more specific.

Oak Hills has been deficit spending, he said, paying more in expenses than it was taking in.

Yohey said he hopes its finances return to the black in a year or two and there are no plans to ask for a levy.

Districts announce freezes on wages  By Denise Smith Amos 5/3/11 Enquirer B3

=================================================

Mariemont will cut five teachers and two support staff positions from next year’s budget.
.
The BOE recently approved the $972,133 budget reduction recommendation from…
.
Freezing administrative salaries, eliminating scheduled salary increases for all staff, renegotiating service contracts and reducing capital outlay projects are also part of the budget reduction plans for the 2011-12 school year.
.
Kasich’s budget will result in a 46 percent state funding decrease from what the Mariemont City Schools received in fiscal year 2011, or about $2.24 million over the next four years, Lucas said.
.
State funding accounted for nearly 38 percent of the Mariemont City Schools’ operating budget a decade ago and full implementation of Kasich’s budget will reduce that to 10 percent, Lucas said.
.
Voters approved a bond issue and operating levy in May 2010 that will finance the facilities plan and operating costs.
.
—Lisa Wakeland, Community Press May 12, 2011 The Enquirer 18

================================================

Deer Park school teachers will not see any raises for at least three years. The Deer Park BOE approved a collective bargaining contract with the Deer Park Education Association at special meeting March 29 to freeze teachers’ salaries with no merit based or step raises for 2011-2012 school year. Kim Gray said the district needs the pay freeze to help with state budget cuts.
.
“Percentage wise we need a lot more than that to offset cuts, Gray said. The pay freeze will affect all 170 school district employees. …the district will save $130,000 in 2011-2012 because of the pay freeze. …district would lose $786,193 in state support in fiscal year 2012 and $155,352 in fy13.
.
The contracts run from July 1 of this year through June 30, 2014. …after that date the district will have to follow Senate Bill 5. “We’re taking only one year at a time …and will live within our means” Gray said.
.
For breakdown of state budget cuts for Deer park and other school districts in the state of Ohio, visit http://kasichschoolcuts.ohea.org/

Source: Amanda Hopkins, Community Press 5/12/11 The Enquirer Your Hometown 22

=================================================================

The Northwest Local School District Board of Education has approved a three-year contract with its teachers’ union that freezes salaries for three years.

The freeze applies to base salaries and the step increases. In addition, if the cost of health premiums rises more than 10 percent in a year, the employees will pay that difference. Superintendent Glatfelter said teachers already pay 15 percent of the premium.

The contract was passed Monday night with a unanimous vote of the board. It was ratified by teachers May 20.

Glatfelter said the district is talking with other employees groups and expects to bring those contracts to the board at the June 27 board meeting.

Northwest OKs teacher pay freeze COLERAIN TWP
The Enquirer May 25, 2011 B3

================================================================

Tuslaw School District finally gets it.

Kudos to Tuslaw School District. Last week, the board of education approved a three year contract, which freezes teacher pay including step increases. The only teachers who will receive any sort of pay increases for the duration of the contract are those who obtain advanced degrees or certifications.

This move, along with teachers agreeing to pay more of their healthcare costs, will save the district significant amounts of money. Until an emergency levy was passed last spring (after an emergency levy had failed the previous fall), the district had not received any additional operating funds since 1993.

The pay freeze in Tuslaw should have the same effect (more or less) as the Buckeye Institute’s suggested reform of reducing pay by 10 percent this year while continuing with 3.2 percent raises in following years. See the Buckeye Institute’s five year projections here.

With prudent financial planning and getting compensation packages under control, school districts can return to the path fiscal stability without looking for a bailout from taxpayers.

Posted on April 19,2011 by Mary McCleary on http://buckeyeinstitute.org/the-liberty-wall/?p=257

===============================================================