BC News

District reaches 4-year agreement with support staff employees
Release Date: June 26, 2008

The Bethlehem Central School District has reached a 4-year agreement with the Bethlehem Central United Employees Association (BCUEA) for the 2008-2012 school years. The settlement, which includes significant employee health insurance concessions that will dramatically reduce district expenditures, contains an average annual overall increase of 2.6 percent plus step over the life of the contract.

The employee association represents the district's support staff, including bus drivers, custodians, operations and maintenance staff, school monitors, clerical personnel and cafeteria staff.

The contract calls for fair salary increases for valued employees and substantial savings in three areas: health insurance costs; improved transportation staffing and routing efficiency; and limitations on worker's compensation costs.

In particular, the contract calls for a significant increase in employee contributions to health insurance premiums for family coverage. Additional savings will come with greater staffing efficiency within the Transportation Department, including a reduction in mid-day bus runs when the district implements full-day kindergarten in 2009-10.

Jim Lytle, President of the Bethlehem Central School Board, said "The Board of Education worked very hard with our negotiating team to reach a contract settlement that was fair to these key employees and that would, over both the short and longer term, result in greater efficiencies and lower costs to the taxpayers."

Pursuing savings in the area of health insurance has been an important element in the district's approach in recent years to controlling costs. In fact, the work of a committee made up of employees, administrators and Board members led to the identification of a new health insurance plan this year that will limit costs without affecting employee coverage. This plan will save the district an estimated $210,000 in 2008-09.

The savings attributable to the health insurance concessions in this contract are likely to grow substantially in future years. "As health insurance premiums continue to escalate, the increasing percentage of overall premium costs borne by employees for family health insurance coverage will result in even greater savings for the district," Mr. Lytle said.

In addition to health insurance savings, new provisions in the BCUEA contract allow for greater flexibility in assigning bus drivers, which will lead to drivers less frequently leaving their regular routes. This stability will lead to improved safety in the district's transportation program, which is already known across the state for its safety and reliability.

The new contract covers the dates July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2012. The current contract expires on June 30.

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