No decisions emerge in tense talks for Pasco school employee contracts

Negotiators for the Pasco County school district and the United School Employees of Pasco came to the bargaining table Thursday evening anticipating two results.

They expected a successful conclusion to the contract for school-related personnel, and a declaration of impasse over terms for teachers.

Neither happened.

Despite what USEP operations director Jim Ciadella described as an economic offer that largely met employee demands, the non-instructional bargaining team rejected that proposal and asked for more.

"Thank you for the 2 percent offer," Ciadella told district negotiator Tom Neesham, adding that other recommendations to further boost the pay of the lowest-paid workers, such as registrars, cafeteria assistants and custodians, went beyond what the USEP had sought.

"We want to counter at 2.5 percent," Ciadella said. "It's a little different than what I was thinking" entering the session. "Things change. That's where we are."

District negotiator Tom Neesham said the district's offer was likely the best it could make. He contended it was important to get more money to the people at the bottom of the pay scale with the amount that was available.

"It's very unlikely I will be coming back and signing anything over 2 percent," Neesham told Ciadella, promising to bring the request to the administration and School Board for consideration. "It's highly unlikely."

On the instructional side, USEP negotiator Val Smith said she would have loved to be able to come to the table ready to sign the contract. But the USEP's disagreement over teacher evaluation provisions was a deal breaker, even if the sides agreed on everything else, Smith said.

The USEP wants all the details of the evaluation system contained in the contract, and open to bargaining annually. The administration agreed to publish the guidelines that emerged from eight months of planning, keep them in place for three years unchanged, and allow for grievances if anyone finds the terms are not followed.

But it argued that the specifics are a management right to control, and not subject to negotiations.

"It's clear we are definitely at loggerheads over evaluations," Smith said.

The sides did not agree on other outstanding issues, either, including the training requirements for teachers at schools under state accountability mandates, the extra pay for teachers of dual enrollment courses, and transfer rights for teachers who are involuntarily reassigned.

They also weren't on the same page on how to divide the money available for raises. The district sought to guarantee a higher amount for teachers on the performance pay plan, while the USEP looked to bolster the salaries of veteran educators who still have continuing contracts.

"I was prepared to go ahead, knowing where we stood on the issues, to say, Go ahead and take it to impasse," Smith said. "But I would like to have one more pass at the table before we take it to that step."

District employee relations director Kathy Scalise tentatively scheduled another round of talks for Dec. 19. She expressed disappointment that the items the USEP was holding out over were ones that had been hashed out in joint committees over several months, and said she also was hopeful that they could resolve the remaining concerns rather than send the issues to a magistrate.

The district last went to impasse over contract terms two years ago.