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JERSEY SHORE -- District residents were not happy about it.
One school board member called it "unjustifiable" and "not sustainable."
Yet the tentative five-year agreement for salaries and benefits between the district and the Jersey Shore Area Education Association was approved by a 5-4 vote.
"I just really believe that this board is off course with this contract. The board as a whole has not heeded the professional advice and counsel from our business manager and has continued to move forward with this tentative agreement, ignoring multiple warnings and directives from Mr. Enders," said board member Michelle Stemler at this week's meeting of the Jersey Shore Area school board.
"There are some members here who I believe have just not carefully considered the impact that this contract will have on the finances of the district, five to 10 years from now. I strongly believe there will be future tax increases placed upon the taxpayers of this community in order to fund this teacher contract. This tentative contract in my opinion, is unjustifiable. And it's not sustainable," Stemler said.
"This is nothing more than an example of government spending more than we have and hoping that it all works out. And I'm not willing to be a part of that," she added.
In addition to Stemler, those voting against accepting the tentative agreement were: Jessie Edwards, Wayne Kinley and Angela Grant. Voting to accept were: Michael Allen, Patrice Doebler, Nancy Petrosky, Kayla Calhoun and Mary Thomas.
In his comment on the agreement, Kinley stated that he felt the numbers in the contract had been "misrepresented" to the public.
"I believe the attachment that the public sees... shows wages increased an average of 2.45% plus step. I think that is a misrepresentation of what's really behind the numbers in the contract. A reminder to the board that the average additional cost is about $843,000 per year in salaries and benefits," Kinley stated.
"At the end of the contract in 2027-28, the salary of 91 current teachers, which represent 53% of our faculty, will be just shy of $95,000. During the life of the contract, 71 teachers, or 41%, will realize an overall increase ranging from 38 to 45%, or an average of 7.5 to almost 9% per year," Kinley said.
After comparing teacher salaries in other county districts with Jersey Shore's in the tentative agreement, Kinley said that the district's were higher for teachers with a bachelor's degree.
"I think the impact on future budgets is going to be extremely difficult. And even assuming attrition with retirees and replacing them at lower salaries and raising taxes to 100% of the index each year, I'm projecting that we would have $450,000 to $500,000 budget deficits," he said.
"The real estate tax burden will continue to get worse based upon this contract and the numbers in the contract and the projections with the index historically and in the future. I think that raising taxes to 100% of the index is out of the bowl. As an example we're looking at, every year, at least an $80 to $100 tax increase for a home assessed at $100,000," Kinley said.
District residents also expressed their displeasure with the tentative agreement.
"When you consider this contract... who will this contract most favor, the taxpayers or the Education Association?" Bob Pryor asked the board.