Warwick teachers reopen contract to close budget gap

WARWICK — The Warwick Valley Teachers Association has reopened its contract and will reduce by nearly one million dollars the amount its members would receive in step and raise increases next year.

In addition, the association has agreed to an increase in health care premiums so that all members pay the same amount.

This collaboration between the faculty union and the school district will help close a projected $3.6 million budget gap for the 2012-13 school year.

“This is a win for the students, community, teachers and the district’s bottom line,” said Tom Rauschenbach, president of the 318-member Warwick Valley Teachers Association, in the Warwick Valley School District’s press release announcing the news. “ I hope the spirit of cooperation and commitment manifested by this agreement, and the understanding of the true value of our educational system, can spread to the community at large and our leaders in Albany.”

Impact Superintendent of Schools Dr. Raymond Bryant said the agreement “allows us to continue to offer full-day Kindergarten, maintain the fourth- and fifth-grade band and strings program and save an additional 6-8 teaching positions.”

Without this agreement, Bryant added, the district would have lost 12-15 additional positions.

“We want people to know we are sensitive to their concerns and we are doing all we can to limit those cuts,” Bryant said. “The continued reduction in state aid funds over the past several years has been painful for our district and the community. We are grateful for this agreement from the teachers’ union.”

Rauschenbach said WVTA and the district were in discussions last year but the passage of the 2 percent cap made it impossible to work with.

“This year it became readily apparent through our understanding of the tax cap and the current lack of support from the state that something had to be done,” Rauschenbach said in an e-mail exchange with The Warwick Advertiser. “I would not say anyone initiated the talks, but they came about through a mutual understanding of what needed to be done for the good of the school system.”

Still work to be done While the nearly $1 million in union support certainly eases the pain somewhat, it does not eliminate the problem completely.

“The district still faces an uphill battle,” said Assistant Superintendent for Business Timothy Holmes, “but without this agreement, things would have been a lot worse.”

The district administration and Board of Education have been working since October to close a $3.6 million budget gap caused by multi-year reductions in state aid, unfunded mandates and increased educational costs.

“The actions of the Warwick Valley Teachers Association go a long way toward helping us close the budget gap, and show that they are true advocates of quality education for Warwick students,” said Board of Education President David Eaton. “On behalf of our nine-member Warwick Valley Central School District Board of Education, I want to publicly thank our teachers and other staff for putting the students first and supporting our schools in this very difficult time.”

The district continues to develop a budget for the next school year that emphasizes maintaining excellent educational program while minimizing the tax impact. Although the new tax levy limit law would allow the district to propose a tax levy amount above its local limit by seeking approval by a supermajority (60 percent or more) of voters, the Board of Education does not plan to do that and will go out with a budget that is within its local levy limit.