Salary Negotiations MARE Presentation

When and Where Do you Start?

Missouri Law – “Meet And Confer” Missouri Law states that schools must “meet and confer” with representatives for the employees regarding salary and benefit changes. This process may be outlined in board policy and may also include non-certified staff. There are no ramifications for non-compliance in the law, but both sides need to take initiative to make this process work. Board policy may designate which group that the district recognizes for these discussions.

Collective Bargaining: Out of the 523 public school districts in the state, only 20-25 utilize “collective bargaining as the process of negotiating salaries. In these schools, the board will have passed a specific board policy that outlines this process. It is typically very specific: Including deadlines that must be met Listing which items may be available for negotiation Listing who sets at the negotiation table What the process is if the parties disagree (arbitration or mediation?)

Get input from administration for timing of decisions and board action Meet with your committee early Discuss what you plan to do Set up a time line for your work Get input from administration for timing of decisions and board action

Areas of Concern Regarding Salaries Base, Experience, 5 years, Extra Duties, etc. Areas of Concern Regarding Benefits Health Insurance, % Paid by Board, Number of Sick/Personal Leave Days, Pay for Unused Leave, etc.

Preliminary Meeting with Administration Current Fund Balances? Anticipation of Savings for Coming Year? Where is the money (by fund)? Is the district deficit spending? If so, what is the plan to stop? Realistic goal for future ending balances that school board and administration would support? From retirement of staff? Elimination of Staff? Elimination of Programs You don’t need names, just amount of projected savings Are there any long-range (3-5 year) facility plans?

After Surveying Staff and Meeting with Administration: Make a prioritized list of proposals of salary and benefit changes Submit list to administration for cost analysis Analyze the most pressing needs

Prior to the Board Presentation Final Meeting With Administration Prior to the Board Presentation Have a Review Each Proposal and Its Cost Such as local competitiveness, inability to hire/keep quality staff, sick/personal leave changes that will reward staff for coming to work, etc. Recognize that any funding available for Salaries and Benefits will also have to recognize potential increased costs for retirement (14.5%, non-certified raises and retirement, extra duty raises, administrative raises and health insurance increases. You may ask administration to project an estimate for these at the time of your presentation so that the board sees the whole picture at once. Share Why Each Proposal is Important If you have a concern about how the cost was calculated for the district, this is the time to clear it up – not at the board meeting

Sample Timeline Meet with administration to confirm deadlines Survey your staff for areas of most concern Meet as a committee to prioritize needs Survey area schools that compete with you for staff October/November

Sample Timeline Ask Administration for estimate of funding available for salary and benefit increases for next year. Analyze survey results & prioritize your requests. Obtain a cost analysis of each proposed change Have final meeting with & submit changes to Board/Administration Prior to March School Board Meeting: /

Your Presentation to the Board of Education

Choose the right person for the job Good PR Ability Trustworthy Knowledgeable of School District Financial Information Knowledgeable of School Finance in General

Your Presentation Be Knowledgeable Always Be Positive Focus on positive outcomes, not the negative consequences of no change Don’t pit one group against another (Teachers vs. Admin./Coaches/Non-Cert., etc.)

Your Presentation Be Professional Be Prepared Be Professional and Prepared Have a short concise handout ready that explains each proposal and it’s proposed cost You might also have survey data available to distribute Point out where you think the current compensation package is deficient as compared to the competition for your district, and explain why the proposed changes might help alleviate these differences Be Prepared

Thank you again! Thank you for the opportunity to speak today! These school districts are similar to us and have a salary schedule that looks like… Similar Salary Schedules – MSTA Salary and Benefits Book can help with this Salary Schedule Proposal – present them with a proposal that is reasonable for your district (MSTA District Financial Analysis can help with this) Points to remember – Inflation, Retaining Good Teachers, Loss of Purchasing Power I propose a salary schedule for our district that looks like… Thank you again!

Points to Remember Keep your staff members informed If you surveyed other schools…Share the results with them YOU MAY NEED THEIR HELP AGAIN IN THE FUTURE! This is not a short process…It’s for the long haul!

Even if your district has no money now… In the long run, you will be more successful if you have the same people on the committee year after year BECAUSE: Building relationships and culture takes time You could negotiate for other good benefits besides salary It Develops a higher degree of credibility (if it’s the right people)

Workshops Salary Workshops (February-March) Salary Negotiations (Online Videos) www.msta.org, click on salary & research, click on videos, password “salary 2018” Salary Workshops (February-March) Encourage to watch the Finance 101 video online in addition to this one.

Things to keep in mind: Salaries typically make up 70% – 80% of your expenditures Typically schools hire; superintendents in Jan., Principals in February, Teachers in March, and non- certified staff in April (all of this comes out of the same pot of money when budgeting!) Don’t forget to include the cost of benefits in your budgeting for the coming year.

MSTA Financial Analysis: Compares your budgeted revenues in major areas to what we know now (in January). Schools should have already revised their budget to updated numbers. Looks at your expenditures by fund for the past two years (Are you deficit spending? And if so, is there an end in sight?) Looks at your enrollment for the past five years Looks at your ending balance

Salary Proposal Cost Analysis What’s a reasonable request for a salary increase? $ What would a salary request cost the district?

Compare Salary and Benefit Information with other school districts Salary Book Compare Salary and Benefit Information with other school districts

Mandy Henry mhenry@msta.org Sid Doerhoff sdoerhoff@msta.org Trisha Burkeen tburkeen@msta.org