Northville School Board to Vote Tonight on Ratifying Contract with Teachers' Union

The Northville school board will consider tonight whether or not to ratify an agreement with the teachers' union, the Northville Education Association, according to a press release from the school district.

In total, the teachers' concessions would be the equivalent of a wage decrease of 3.8 percent for the average teacher eligible for step increases, which are tenure-based. And 26 of 52.5 teaching positions will be reinstated.

According to the press release, changes in the agreement would call for:

• A 4 percent wage decrease
• Two unpaid furlough days during the school year
• The teachers’ union to pay 20 percent of health care premiums "effective immediately"
• Switching to a Blue Cross Blue Shield higher deductible, cheaper health care plan beginning Jan. 1, 2012. It would include an annual deductible of $1,250 for individual coverage and a $2,500 annual deductible for families. The district would pay 80 percent of the annual deductible.
• "The average teacher will go from paying about $350 a year for health care coverage to paying approximately $3,500 per year," according to the press release.
• One evening parent-teacher conference on the elementary, middle and high school levels instead of two
• K-12 spring parent-teacher conferences by parent request

"While the concessions agreed to by the Northville Education Association do not achieve the cost reductions necessary to bring back all of the teachers currently on layoff, the district will achieve $6.46 million in cost reductions as a result of the proposed settlement over the course of the two-year period," the press release said.

The meeting is set for tonight at 7 p.m. at .

Earlier this summer, the district could not reach an agreement with the and voted to privatize those services. And, according to the release, collective bargaining with other union groups is still on-going. Central office administrator contracts will likely go before the board on Aug. 23.