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HANOVER TWP. — The Hanover Area School Board voted 8-1 tonight to accept a state fact finder report, then learned the teacher union had already approved the same report last Thursday, effectively making the terms in the still-confidential report a new contract between the two sides.
Because the fact finder report is not made public by the state until 10 days after it is released, neither board lead negotiator attorney John Audi nor union lead negotiator Virginia Cowley would provide details. Audi did hand out the following written statement:
“The Hanover Area School District Board of Directors voted this evening to accept a recommended fact-finding report that will result in a successor collective bargaining agreement if also accepted by the Hanover Area Education Association.
“The Board of Directors believe that the fact-finding report reflects its stated concerns of reaching a fair agreement while making changes that will result in both immediate and future cost savings. The report recommends a 5-year agreement, dating back two years, which offers nominal raises the first two years, and modest raises the remaining three years.
“Escalating health care costs are abated by a plan redesign which includes deductibles and increased co-pays for prescriptions and doctors visits. Further, an incentive of an additional pay increase for the remaining 2 years of the contract is offered to entice the Association out of the NEPA Health Trust, thus allowing the District to attain significant savings over the current expenditures on health benefits. Finally, a concession was attained in post-retirement health benefits which will result in long terms savings to the District’s current expenditures.”
Hanover Area is insured through the Northeast Pennsylvania School District Health Trust, a consortium of area districts and education agencies formed in 1999 to use collective buying power to keep insurance rates down. Districts have increasingly expressed dissatisfaction with the trust’s performance in recent years. Three districts have withdrawn from it, most recently Lake-Lehman.
The trust has responded by forming a committee that is looking into various ways to entice more districts into its fold. The district cannot withdraw from the trust without union approval.
The new teacher contract replaces one that technically expired in 2012, but an agreement by teachers to accept a one-year pay freeze extended the terms of the contract into 2013.
The Board also voted to approve final language for a contract with the support staff union, which covers custodians, cleaners and secretaries. That deal was approve earlier this year and the union is already working under the new terms, but Audi said minor language details had only been recently worked out and that the vote tonight was a formality.
Business Manager Tom Cipriano said the support staff contract gives an average of 2- to 3.5-percent total raises over it’s four year term, and switches union members from traditional insurance coverage to Preferred Provider Organization coverage, which offers incentives to use doctors and providers within a more limited network.
Cipriano said the support staff contract costs the district about $24,000 a year in raises but saves about $20,000 in insurance premiums.