Dist. 26 leader: Savings should start with teachers contract

Now that voters in Cary Elementary District 26 have approved $15 million in working cash bonds to start restoring the district to financial health, leaders are doing their best to make sure the district lives within its means.

Board President Christopher Spoerl says it starts with the upcoming teacher contract negotiations.

The current contract expires next August and Spoerl is hopeful teachers take one for the team by asking for less money.

“We are looking for cost savings out of the teachers contract,” Spoerl said Wednesday. “Based on the existing contract, many teachers have put in for retirement. And based on that, their raises are locked in, irrespective of future contracts.”

But leadership from the Cary Education Association, which represents the teachers, say its members already have compromised, listing six examples dating back to 2004.

Those include insurance concessions in 2010 they say saved more than $100,000, a 33-percent reduction in staff the previous school year, agreeing to eliminate paid extra duty in 2008 and a pay freeze in 2004.

“The Cary Education Association has historically demonstrated fiscal responsibility,” the negotiating team said in a prepared statement. “On four different occasions, in the 2009-10 school year, the teachers contacted the board of education clearly stating their commitment to cost savings measures.”

Union co-presidents Pat Sylvester and Mary McCandless would not comment beyond the news release.

Spoerl declined to discuss firm cost-saving figures, as doing so could jeopardize negotiations, he said.

Right now, the current contract grants teachers raises of 4.3 percent for each of the three years it is in effect.

For example, a new teacher hired for $35,795 would make $37,421 the second year and $39,121 the third year.

As well, a retiring teacher receives a 6-percent increase over the salary made in the previous year, for a maximum of the final four years of employment before retirement.

Board member Chris Jenner said the board should take a multilayered approach to ensure the district avoids financial ruin.

“Salaries are clearly a large component of it, but I think there's other things to investigate,” he said. “The way the status quo works, it's just unsustainable.”