Board of Education approves 2-year contract with teachers

At its Feb. 10 regular meeting, the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education unanimously ratified a new two-year contract with the Van Buren Education Association, which represents the teachers.
Human Resources Director Abdul Madyun said the contract puts $2 million more into the district teachers.
He said the first year they add $600 on each salary level and the second year they add $400 on each salary level.
“We’re certainly on the right track,” said Marcus Hosman, VBEA president. “It’s a good bargain, though the bargaining was very time-consuming.”
He said it was a good bargain given the restraints. He said the school board wants to keep a healthy fund balance of 15%, which is higher than surrounding districts.
He said this helps toward competitive compensation in the Wayne County area.
Hosman said the new self-insurance could bring extra money back to the teachers and they got longevity pay they’ve been asking for for a number of years.
“We’re proud of this, as well,” Hosman said.
Madyun provided an overview of the contract that showed over the two-year life of the contract, there will be a reopening of the salary negotiations if the per pupil foundation allowance, now at $8,228, increases to $8,728 or decreases to $8,128.
The annual longevity payments begin for those completing 14 or more years with the district. Those serving 14-19 years get $600; 20-25 years, $1,000; and 26 or more years, $1,400.
Madyun said there have been initial efforts to put teacher protection language into the contract and a committee will be established to address classroom safety. There also is a section about support for severe disciplinary issues and legal support for legal complaint against teachers who are “doing their job.”
Health coverage remains the same.
In other business at the one-hour-and-28-minute meeting, the board:
• Approved a new field trip to France for students in Katelyn Mulvey’s French classes at the high school. Eighteen students are involved and there is a cost of $4,377 to each student. It is planned for June 23 to July 1. She said she has planned this for every other year. She said this will not interfere with the European trip by high school students;
• Approved a field trip on Feb. 28-29, for 15 to 20 members of the Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps class to Zion, IL for competition on skills, as requested by Gunny Sgt. Mathew Barr, who teaches the ROTC class at BHS. She said students are splitting the cost of the hotel at $30 a student and he is covering the entrance fee of $100;
• Approved the resignation of non-instruction staff member Marcus Steele from Tyler Elementary as of Jan. 27 after one years of service for a job opportunity. The board also approved the employment of Frank Murphy as a paraprofessional in Student Services as of Jan. 27;
• Approved the resignation of teacher Lauren Kinnamon after less than a year of service at the high school as of Feb. 20 for another job opportunity;
• Heard a presentation from Curriculum Director Jeff Moore on Early Middle College and Dual Enrollments where students earn college credits in high school without cost. He estimated students will have earned $104,204 worth of college credits by the end of this school year;
• Approved IDS, Integrated Design Solutions, as the architect and engineer firm for the Early Childhood Center project, at a total award of $1,615,000, which includes a total fixed fee of $1,600,000 and a not-to-exceed among of $15,000 for reimbursable expenses;
• Heard a presentation by Director Moore on EVAAS data, which he said is a different way of looking at the M-Step and PSAT scores. He explained it was growth vs. proficiency; and
• Witnessed Fall Athletic Recognition by coaches and student athletes playing soccer, volleyball, and football.