2006 School Warrant Article 3

To see if the Pelham School District will vote to approve the cost items included in the Collective Bargaining Agreement reached between the Pelham School Board and the Pelham Educational Support Personnel Association (PESPA), which calls for the following increase in salaries and benefits:

Year 2006-07    $ 35,364

Year 2007-08    $ 66,959

Year 2008-09    $ 62,558

And further to raise and appropriate the sum of $ 35,364 for the 2006-2007 school year, said sum representing the additional costs attributable to the increase in salaries and benefits over those of the appropriations at current staffing levels paid in the prior school year. (Recommended by the Pelham School Board) (Recommended by the Pelham Budget Committee)

Voter's Guide Explanation

The Pelham Educational Support Personnel Association is an union association that represents 83 instructional assistants, Title I tutors, and library assistants. They are paid according to collective bargaining agreements negotiated with the District in the same manner as the teacher’s union. The collective bargaining agreement must be approved by voters to go into effect. This article represents a collective bargaining agreement reached with the PESPA that will be in effect for three years. In the first year, each of the 83 employees represented by PESPA will receive raises of $0.22 an hour with a total cost to the District of $35,364. In the second year of the agreement, each employee will get an additional raise of $.30 an hour with a total cost of $66,959. The third and final year, the raise will be $.33 and hour for a total cost of $62,558.

Passage of this article will accept the collective bargaining agreement as valid and will guarantee the raises for the employees represented by the PESPA that are listed above.