By Brian Marshall
Review Editor
With the upcoming school year just around the corner, the Lake Orion School District and its teachers agreed on a “letter of agreement,” which consists of teachers accepting various concessions.
The agreement forged last week concluded three months of intense negotiations between the sides. The terms, according to Lake Orion Education Association President Jeffrey Faber are:
Teachers taking pay reductions. This includes a freeze in “step” raises, merit pay is slashed, and pay for coaches and extracurricular advisors is reduced.
“Step raises are usually given for years of service, but will stop this time,” Faber said. He added the cuts will save the district over $900,000.
Lake Orion Community Schools Superintendent Marion Ginopolis added that the pay cut for teachers at the top of seniority is one percent. Ginopolis was glad the process resulted in an agreement.
“I am not only pleased but overwhelmed that all of our employees, including the teachers, have taken concessions for the coming school year,” she said.
“This certainly makes it clear that we work as a team in Lake Orion and are willing to step forward to help with financial issues when times are difficult. All staff should be commended for their dedication to our schools and to our students.”
The terms in the agreement last for the duration of the school year, through June 30, 2017. At that time, the full contract will be open.
Faber admitted things weren’t always smooth.
“There were tense moments between the sides,” he said. “In the end, members of the LOEA decided to make the financial sacrifices needed through a second consecutive year of pay cuts in order to maintain high-quality programming for our students.”
Faber noted that all district employees took a furlough day — in which they worked without pay — last school year. Faber praised his organization.
“The dedicated and professional members of the LOEA believe in our schools and will do everything that we can for our students,” he said. “Although we remain in the midst of challenging times, we are buoyed by the support of this fine community and know that we’ll weather this storm together.”
Rick Arnett, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for Lake Orion Schools, also praised the teachers.
“We’re very pleased with it.” Arnett said. “I’m grateful that our teachers realized our situation and our needs and were willing to step up to help the district in its time of need. It went very smoothly actually, a great collaborative effort.”
Arnett said that while the focus has been on the teachers, there are many others affected by the negotiations and outcome.
“It’s important to also mention that there’s not an individual or a group within the district that will see an increase in pay next year,” he said. “Everyone in the district will feel some sort of concession.”