Wednesday
September 18, 2024 
After many months of negotiations, the Neshaminy School District support staff union finally has a new contract in place.
The school board approved the five-year deal 6-0 at its Tuesday meeting after the Neshaminy Educational Support Professional Association had ratified it earlier this month. Board President Tina Hollenbach and fellow members Paul Saraullo, Cyndie Bowman, Alicia Lafferty, Carlos Rodriguez and Kellen Sporny all voted yes. Members John Allen, Adam Kovitz and Marty Sullivan were unable to attend the meeting.
The contract is retroactive back to July 1, 2022 and extends through June 30, 2027. It covers roughly 500 Neshaminy positions including instructional, hallway, playground and cafeteria aides; bus drivers; food service workers; custodians; maintenance and grounds workers; technology workers and clerical staff.
It gives all union members a 4% salary increase in the first year; a 3.4% increase for grandfathered employees and 3.6% increase for new employees in the second year; 3.4% for grandfathered employees and 3.6% for new employees in the third year; 3.5% for grandfathered employees and 3.7% for new employees in the fourth year; and 3.15% for grandfathered employees and 3.3% for new employees in the final year.
“It took a little bit longer than we anticipated but we were able to get to the finish line,” Hollenbach said. “I believe it’s a contract that the board, union and the taxpayers can be happy with.”
However, NESPA President John McGinley was not all that overjoyed in his comments after the meeting.
“Overall, the contract settlement is good for the taxpayers and appeases the NSD school board,” he wrote in an email to The Herald. “It’s good to return to a five-year labor agreement. However, it still amazes me that the NSD just keeps taking and taking away from the hard-working lowest wage earners in the district.
“Not that long ago, and still occasionally, there is talk of the NSD returning to a family atmosphere. Well, if that’s how the school board treats family, we’ll stay away for the holidays.”
Among the many other provisions in the deal is the school district reserving the right to outsource 140 positions (as compared to 98 positions in the previous agreement), with no restrictions as to what positions can be outsourced.
The contract is estimated to bring a total of $3.9 million in additional costs, with $791,000 in the first year, $700,000 in the second, $761,000 in the third, $795,000 in the fourth and $841,000 in the final year.
In another action from the Jan. 24 meeting, the board voted 6-0 to approve an Act 1 resolution that commits it to not raising property or any other tax for 2023-2024 more than 4.1%, the established state Act 1 Index for next school year. The action means that any possible tax hike will be between 0 and 4.1%.
Neshaminy raises the vast majority of its locally generated revenue from property taxes. Total millage is currently 171.23, or $4,786 in annual taxes for a resident with a property assessed at the district average of $27,948. A property tax increase of 4.1%, the maximum that could happen, equates to 7.02 mills, or a $196 hike for the owner of the average assessed property.
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