fsc letter to council oct 2011

8/4/2019 FSC Letter to Council Oct 2011

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October 5, 2011

Scott Mason, ChairFranklin Town Council355 E. Central StreetFranklin, MA 02038

Dear Scott,

Thank you for your request for more information regarding the SchoolCommittees unanimous approval of a new contract with the Franklin EducationalAssociation (FEA).

The School Committee works hard to uphold its legal and fiduciaryresponsibilities under the Town Charter and state law, and to make decisions thatconsistently reflect the mission, vision and values of the school district. In that spirit, weare writing to provide further information about the FEA agreement.

The new contract period begins Sept. 1, 2010 and runs until Aug. 30, 2012.

It provides no wage increase for Fiscal Year 2011; a 1% increase for FY 2012;and a 0.5% increase, effective Aug. 30, 2012, for FY 2013. The approximate cost inFY12 is estimated as $350,000. This represents 0.68% of the current school budget. Theapproximate cost for FY13 is $175,000.

The wage increases scheduled for FY12 and FY13 are exceptionally modest,compared to the 2.5% wage increase the Town Council approved for teachers at Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School earlier this year, and the 3.4%increase in the Consumer Price Index in this region from July 2010 through July 2011.

The new FEA contract is historic for two reasons:

Jeffrey N. Roy, Chair Paula Mullen, Vice-ChairEd Cafasso Cindy Douglas Bill Glynn Susan Rohrbach Roberta Trahan

Street Address355 East Central St.Franklin, MA 02038

PHONE (508) 553-4819E-MAIL [email protected] SITE http://www.franklin.ma.us/auto/schools/fsc/default.htm

FRANKLIN SCHOOL COMMITTEE


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FRANKLIN SCHOOLCOMMITTEE

Scott MasonOctober 5, 2011Page 2

It features an agreement between the School Committee and the FEA tocooperatively re-examine the salary table that drives close to 75% of current school costs.For the first time ever, both parties have agreed to investigate a new, progressive wagestructure to replace the steps and lanes that both the Town Council and the SchoolCommittee have long identified as a budget buster.

The agreement to cooperatively re-examine the current salary table holds asignificant opportunity for us to address a significant source of annual financial pressureon Franklins budget.

Secondly, the new contract requires both sides to undertake interest-basedbargaining (IBB) during upcoming talks toward a new FEA contract, as opposed to theadversarial and frustrating negotiating posture that has been in place until now.

Interest-based bargaining (IBB) has been a goal of the School Committee formany years, and we are pleased to finally have the opportunity to implement it.Bargaining Methods and New Forms of Agreements, as published by the HarvardUniversity Kennedy School of Government, explains this approach succinctly:

Interest-based bargaining (IBB) is a departure from positional bargainingand the traditional adversarial, industrial model of collective bargainingthat assumes bargaining is a zero-sum activity focused on dividingexisting resources. In contrast, IBB focuses on parties interests rather than

their proposed positions, making it possible to explore the values andpurposes and to learn whether these interests are shared orcomplementary. IBB allows parties to identify multiple ways to satisfyinterests and to solve problems creatively IBB provides an opportunityto address student achievement in the collective-barging process. IBB canminimize ritualized adversarial behavior and enable productiverelationships to develop, better situating the parties to improve studentachievement.

For more information on IBB, we commend this article to Council members forfurther review: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/lkaboolian/publications/Win-Win-

chapter1.pdf.

The IBB method empowers the parties to work as partners to brainstorm, identifyand implement potential solutions to systemic issues in good faith. This could not bemore important, given the need to balance ongoing budgetary pressures, highexpectations for continued high academic performance, and evolving state and federalstandards for achievement imposed on our schools and teachers.


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FRANKLIN SCHOOLCOMMITTEE

Scott MasonOctober 5, 2011Page 3

The terms of the FEA contract allow us to pursue a progressive approach towardbroader goals, including the potential for a new salary schedule that is financiallysustainable. The contract is funded by savings attained through attrition, as well asincreased circuit breaker revenue from the state.

A final important aspect of the contract is that it brought closure to our unfairlabor practice litigation, saved mounting legal fees, and allowed the school department toreturn its sole focus to the task of educating the students of Franklin.

We appreciate, respect and share the Town Councils desire to maintain abalanced budget and to use revenues as efficiently and effectively as possible to providethe best possible services to the citizens of Franklin. To that end, we consistently providevery detailed information on our budget and operations at our meetings, in budgetdocuments, in annual budget hearings with the Finance Committee and Town Council,and in various online settings.

Although it did not meet consistently during the FY12 budget process, the JointBudget Subcommittee of the Council and the Committee has been a very effective andcollegial financial planning vehicle in the past. We propose that the Joint BudgetSubcommittee resume a regular, disciplined meeting schedule as soon as possibleimmediately following the upcoming municipal election.

As always, we stand ready to provide further information. We look forward to

continuing to serve with you as responsible advocates for our schools and constructivepartners in the governance of Franklin.

fsc letter to council oct 2011

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