Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Longmeadow Town Manager and School Superintendent Contracts

As I mentioned in my previous post, the current negotiated employment contracts for the Town Manager and School Superintendent were not found at Storrs Library but I was able to obtain copies via a request to Town Hall. Both contracts are public documents.

Here are links to these contracts…

Town Manager- dated March 25, 2009
  • Current contract was signed on 3/25/09 is effective until 6/30/12. 
  • Initial salary of $99,031/ year through 6/30/10. Merit increases and other compensation may be awarded at the discretion of the Select Board.
    (There were no merit or other compensation increases for FY11.)
  • Includes 4 weeks vacation, 12 days of sick leave (which can be accumulated up to a max of 150 days). Also included are 3 personal days/year (no carryover or accumulation) and 12 paid holidays.
  • There is a car allowance of $200/ month, $2500/ year tax deferred compensation, up to $2500 for professional development and payment of dues for professional memberships.
School Superintendent- dated March 30, 2010
  • This new contract is for three years effective 7/01/10 with an initial starting salary of $155,000/year.
  • Evaluation every year (June 30) with the potential of an annual increase based upon performance.
  • 5 weeks vacation (carryover 5 days/ year), 15 sick days (carryover max of 45 days), 12 paid holidays, 2 personal days, 3 bereavement days per year.
  • Monthly expenses for a cell phone/ Blackberry electronic device are paid.
Comments

According to the above contract, the School Superintendent’s salary was finalized on March 30 yet the FY2011 school department budget provided to town voters at the Annual Town Meeting showed a line item of $135,000 even though the actual contract salary at the time was $155,000. This is a 25.4% increase over the $123,000 paid to our recently retired school superintendent.

Why were town voters mislead by the School Committee as to new superintendent’s salary particularly given a budget that was achieved in part with a new teachers contract having a 0.0% COLA?

Comparison of school superintendent salaries in East Longmeadow ($130,000- FY11) and Wilbraham-Hampden Regional School District ($135,000- FY10) suggests that $135,000 was a competitive salary for our region and towns with similar characteristics.

Based upon the current salary structure for Longmeadow teachers, our new superintendent is getting paid more than twice the highest paid teacher in the school system.

Our new superintendent is also being paid at a salary that is 57% higher than our current Town Manager.

Town employee salaries are a very large part of our town budget. The current Longmeadow teacher contracts expire next summer so teacher salaries including COLAs (as well as other town employees) will be a significant factor in achieving a balanced budget for FY2012. Police and fire fighters are still in collective bargaining for a new contract.

It should be an interesting upcoming budget process.

P.S. The TM and School Superintendent's contracts should be included with the other contracts available at Storrs Library.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Followup on New Longmeadow Town Bylaw….

In accordance with the new town bylaw 2-320, copies of the current “negotiated labor contracts” were deposited at Storrs Library. I spent time last Thursday at Storrs Library to determine what information could be found.

Here is a list of the current labor contracts that are available at Storrs Library...

Longmeadow Education Association
1. Unit A- 9/01/09 - 8/31/11
2. Unit B- 7/01/09 - 6/30/11
3. Unit D- 7/01/09 - 6/30/11
4. Unit E- 8/31/09 – 8/31/11
5. Unit F (educational assistants)- 9/01/09 - 8/31/11
6. Unit H (custodians)- 7/01/09 - 6/30/11

Longmeadow Organization of Clerical Workers
(full time clerical employees for Town Clerk, DPW, Police, etc.
7/01/05 – 6/30/08- contract has expired

Longmeadow Local 1903 Int’l Assn. of Fire Fighters
7/01/08 – 6/30/09- contract has expired

Longmeadow Int’l Brotherhood of Police Officers, Chapter 370
7/01/08 – 6/30/09- contract has expired

Longmeadow Police Supervisors
7/01/09 – 6/30/12

Longmeadow police officers, fire fighters and clerical workers have not completed collective bargaining contract negotiations with the town.

Longmeadow teachers, educational assistants and custodians as well as the Longmeadow Police Supervisors have existing contracts- each with a 0% COLA. All of the existing Longmeadow Teachers contracts expire during FY2011. For those who are interested, here is the Longmeadow teachers' salary structure including steps, education and longevity factors.

I did not read each of these contracts in their entirety but plan to do so at some time in the near future.

The current employment contracts for the Town Manager and School Superintendent which were of greatest interest to me were not included with the contracts at Storrs Library.

The new bylaw says “negotiated labor contracts” – which must have been narrowly interpreted so as to not include the TM and Superintendent’ contracts.

I have subsequently obtained copies of both contracts which are public documents and plan to share details and commentary in my next blog post.