Board approves contracts

Approved were administrative, nonunion supervisory and nonunion support staff contracts.

The contracts, which go into effect on July 1, include a wage freeze. These employees will contribute 50 percent toward the Wisconsin Retirement System and 14 percent of the health care premium cost.

District Administrator Scott Bleck said the result of the negotiation process is the recognized concessions of about $65,000 from these employees.

The wage freeze and level of contributions toward the Wisconsin Retirement System and the cost of health care mirror the contract extension that the board approved on June 13 with the Weyauwega-Fremont Educational Association.

The one group of employees that did not complete negotiations with the board was the Weyauwega-Fremont Educational Support Personnel Association.

The association's negotiation committee walked out of a June 20 meeting, and Greg Spring, a negotiations specialist with the Wisconsin Education Association Council, attempted to get an extension to their 2009-11 agreement during Monday's school board meeting.

The state budget repair law went into effect at midnight Tuesday, June 28, which means that any labor agreements not finalized by then fall under that law.

Bleck said this means the board will have to develop an employee handbook for the support staff. The goal, he said, is to have it completed by the beginning of the 2011-12 school year.

Spring said, "They will be covered by the law now. They will not be able to negotiate anything but base wages."

He said the bargaining team was in agreement with economic concessions but was offended by other proposals, including support staff paying more for health and dental insurance than teachers would.

"We walked out," Spring told the board, "because the committee felt it was not getting any respect. They thought they were looking at a settlement similar to the teachers."

Later in the meeting, board President Neal Loehrke said the negotiations committee had no recommendation to the board, because negotiations had ended "rather abruptly."

Board member Randy Yorkson said the agenda was not posted for negotiations.

"I'm sorry for the support staff," Loehrke said. "We will work this out."