3 Top Pottsgrove Administrators Get 2% Raises

Pottsgrove Schools Superintendent William Shirk

The three top administrators in the Pottsgrove School District all received 2 percent raises Tuesday
night.

The new salaries of Superintendent William Shirk, Assistant Superintendent Robert Harney and Business Manager Davids Nester were all approved Tuesday night by the board without any public comment.

As a result, Shirk will earn $188,695 in the 2019-2020 school year, up from $184,074.

Robert Harney, assistant superintendent

Shirk, who had served as the district's assistant superintendent since 2013, was promoted in January of 2017 at a salary of $178,000.

For five months, he had served as acting superintendent in the wake of the departure of his predecessor, Shellie Feola.

Harney, who was hired in November of 2017 at a salary of $150,000, will be paid $156,071 in the coming school year, up from $152,250.

This is the final year of Shirk and Harney's contracts Harney said.

Nester, who has worked for the district for decades, has an "open ended contract," meaning it is automatically renewed each year unless the board takes action.

His salary for the 2019-2020 school year will be $176,191, up from $171,877.

David Nester, business manager

Last year, all three received 1.5 percent raises.

Harney said all three have goals set for them every year by the school board and their raises are based, in part on their performance in achieving those goals.

In February, the school board unanimously adopted a new three-year agreement with lower level administrators as well.

The administrators, 21 building and mid-level supervisors, are known collectively as the Act 93 employees for the Pennsylvania law that governs the manner in which they "meet and discuss" with the school board to negotiate employment conditions.

This group is different from the teachers' union, which is protected and operates under federal and state labor laws and are allowed to strike in Pennsylvania. Technically, the Act 93 employees are not negotiating a union contract.

That contract set up a "market place" of eight school districts to help determine "target salaries."

The Act 93 agreement does not govern higher level employees, like the superintendent, assistant superintendent or business manager, each of whom has an individual contract with the school district.

In January, the school board adopted a three-year early bird contract with the teachers union, the Pottsgrove Education Association. That contract re-structured the salary sclaes to direct more money into the newer teachers, making exact figures varied.

However, Harney said at the time the budget impact would add about 3.3 percent to the payroll each year of the contract.

In June, the school board adopted a $68 million budget that raised property taxes by 0.7 percent.

Get on the Bus

The board also further discussed the proposal to install GPS systems on all 56 Pottsgrove buses, which are owned by the district but operated and managed by CMD Services bus company, the same company that operates the Pottstown Area Rapid Transit buses.

The board did not vote, although one is planned at the first meeting in September.

Business Manager David Nester told the board he had knocked about $2,000 off the installation price, bringing the price tag for the entire project to about $15,000.

He said Pottsgrove is one of the last districts in the county to install the system, and that is a basic
system that does not permit parents to access data about the location of school buses in real time as the Boyertown system does.

However, having the system in place will likely allow Pottsgrove to maximize its transportation subsidy from Pennsylvania, which clocks in at just over $1 million. Of that subsidy, $760,000 was related to mileage.

The board also adopted a new contract with CMD for services.

There was no overall cost associated with the contract, but the agenda did not the management fee of $149,909 represents an increase of 4.55 percent.

Hourly driver rates are up 2.4 and 2.5 percent under the new contract, depending on the vehicle being driven. It also contains a 3.6 percent increase in the hourly labor rate.

According to information posted in the agenda, "CMD has worked with the District to keep costs down for years. As a result, Pottsgrove's transportation costs are among the lowest in the area."

And with that, here are the Tweets from the meeting:

Top 3 Pottsgrove Administrators Get 2% Raises

Pottsgrove OKs Early Bird 3-Year Pact With Teachers

Photos by Evan Brandt

BALANCING ACT: From left, Pottsgrove School Board members Scott Hutt, Brenna Mayberry, Al Leach and Savannah Lear are coached by 3rd grader Lily Sainger-Hauck ("almost 9") in a cooperative exercise that encouraged cooperation, coordination and collaboration. 

The task was to build a pyramid of cups using only four strings tied to a rubber band.

At right, before the school board gave it a shot, West Pottsgrove students demonstrated for the board how it's done.

With a 7-1 vote Tuesday night, the Pottsgrove School Board approved an early bird contract with the teachers association that will add nearly $2 million to the district's payroll over the next three years.

Patricia Grimm was absent and board member Bill Parker cast the only vote against the contract.

Megan DeLena, president of the Pottsgrove Education Association, said her membership approved the pact Monday night by "an overwhelming" majority.

DeLena said the contract re-structures the salary scale with a goal of raising the salary of starting teachers.

"That will make our district more competitive in keeping younger teachers here with other, larger school districts paying much higher salaries," said School Board Vice President Al Leach.

The salary re-structuring means different teachers in different steps in the salary scales will receive different raises, so the most accurate way to describe the financial impact is the additional money is how much it will add to the payroll.

Although he did not have the exact numbers at hand, Superintendent William Shirk said the higher salaries with add 3.3 percent to the payroll, or "more than $600,000," each year, meaning by 2022, the payroll will have risen by at least $1.8 million.

JUST ADDING THIS PHOTO: Because of how incredibly cute and 

charming Lilly is. (She giggled through her whole presentation.)

However, the district may save some money out of the payroll if at least 12 Pottsgrove teachers take up the retirement incentive offer included in the new contract.

Teachers who have been in the state retirement system for at least 15 years and at Pottsgrove for at least 10 of those years, concurrently, are eligible to receive a $20,000 pre-tax contribution to a 403B retirement account.

However, at least 12 teachers have to accept the offer before it's valid, said Assistant Superintendent Robert Harney.

With 12 teachers taking it, despite the various savings depending on their seniority and resulting salary, the district will "come out ahead" financially, with each additional retiree above 12 adding to that financial benefit for the district, Harney said.

That retirement incentive expires June 31.

Another change in the new contract is that after six years of no change, money will be added to the stipend paid to coaches and staff club advisers.

In the Pottsgrove system, different positions are worth different stipends, calculated using a point system with each point worth $119. A common stipend is worth five points, said DeLena, which adds up to $595.

What the new contract will do is add $3 to the value of a point each year for the first two years, meaning two years after the contract goes into affect on July 1, that same five-point stipend will be worth $625.

Before voting against the contract, Parker said "I’ve worked with educators across the state. I can say with some expertise, that ours are the best that anyone could ask for."

Parker further stated "No amount of financial compensation could ever really cover what they deserve, however, we, as elected officials, are also tasked with representing the taxpayers, and as such, I can not vote for a contract that includes raises for many of our staff over 6, 7, and 8 percent a year."
School Board President Robert Lindgren reminded the board that in 2011, teachers accepted a one-year contract that froze salaries and again in 2012, when the economy was teetering, the teachers union "agreed to pay freezes to help out our community, and we have long memories."

He said early bird contracts such as this occur only if "there is enough trust on one or both sides."

The board, administration and teachers union representatives "have developed good relationships" making the exploration of an early bird contract possible, Lindgren said.

Negotiations began in September, DeLena said, adding that the tentative agreement was explained to the teachers at a Thursday meeting in advance of the Monday vote.

"I think the mood, the character of a school district flows from the top down," DeLena said when asked about the relationship between the two sides at the negotiating table.

"It was a collaborative effort," said Shirk. "We've laid a really good foundation in the last three years and to have seven years of labor peace means so much."

"We have some friction points and some disagreements, but we've moving in the right direction and we're trying to build on that," said Lindgren.

"You never get everything you want, but we've taken care of some inequities in the steps and we do things incrementally," said Lindgren. "I'm very happy to be able to for this."

Tax Cap Pledge

In other news of interest to taxpayers, the board unanimously to keep any tax increase in the 2019-2020 budget at the state-imposed cap of 3 percent or less.

The vote allows the district to avoid the process of putting together and adopting a preliminary budget in February that invariably changes as the figures become clearer closer to the end of the fiscal year.

Last month, the Pottstown School Board voted to do the same.

And with that, here are the Tweets from the meeting:

Pottsgrove OKs 3-Year Teacher Pact

Pottsgrove OKs Teacher Pact, Some Say Goodbye

Monday night is not the regular evening for the Pottsgrove School Board to meet, but they did last night.

As many had surmised, it was likely to allow the board to meet after the teachers union, the Pottsgrove Education Association, had voted on a tentative contract deal.

And sure enough, that's what the school board did, voting unanimously to approve the contract.

It is a four-year contract which "gives teachers average salary increases of 1.48%, 3.86%, 3.53% and 3.26% in years one through four, respectively," according to a press release issued by district communications chief Michael Wagman moments after the vote took place.

Pottsgrove School Board President Justin Valentine right,
received a gift from Superintendent Shellie Feola for his
four years of service on the Pottsgrove School Board.

"Under the new contract, which will be retroactive to Sept. 1, the starting teachers’ salary would increase to $42,710 and a top-of-scale teacher (those with a master’s degree with thirty additional graduate credits plus 15 years of service in the district) would increase to $93,844," according to the release.

"In order to help offset those increases, by the end of the contract, teachers will contribute 21 percent to the cost of the District’s top tier health insurance plan; this would be among the highest  premium contributions by district personnel in the region currently. If they choose a less expensive plan, they’ll contribute 13 percent. The teachers also agreed to a less expensive prescription drug plan, which saves the school district money," the release noted.

“Contract disputes are often divisive and certainly this negotiation period was stressful. Now is our opportunity to move forward and to focus on the great work our teachers do in our classrooms," said in the release. "We believe this of a community that has to fund it.”
"PGEA is very happy that we finally reached a fair agreement," Pottsgrove High School teacher Megan DeLena, who heads the teachers union, wrote in an email to this reporter.

"We look forward to building on the progress Pottsgrove students have made and getting back to the focus of educating our children," she wrote. "We thank the community for their support."

This was also the final meeting for those leaving the board, which includes School Board President Justin Valentine, Vice President David Faulkner and members Ted Coffelt and Dee Gallion.

Faulkner was not present, but the other three spoke about their time on the board. Valentine read a statement and choked up when he thanked the Pottsgrove teachers who have helped his son.


Pottsgrove Superintendent Shellie Feola and Business Manager David Nester also reported on a trip to Harrisburg yesterday to lobby legislators about the pending budget and against its possible inclusion of legislation that would require a community vote for any tax increase.

But, Ringing Rocks being nestled into a hill as it is, I was having a hard time keeping a connection and so there are no Tweets from that portion of the meeting.

So I'm afraid you'll just have to wait for my stories in The Mercury.

In the meantime, here are the Tweets:

Pottsgrove Hikes Administrators' Pay by $10K, Reveals its Teacher Contract Offer

Photos by Evan Brandt

Members of the Pottsgrove Education Association showed up in force, and with matching t-shirts, at Tuesday nights Pottsgrove School Board meeting at Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School.

The Pottsgrove School Board, without comment, approved nearly $10,000 in pay increases for its three top administrators at Tuesday night's board meeting.

But there was plenty of conversation -- on both sides of the table -- regarding the ongoing negotiations between the district and the teachers.

According to reporting from The Mercury last year, Superintendent Shellie Feola's salary increased by $1,962; from $178,412 to $180,379 -- a 1.1 percent increase, the smallest percentage hike of the three the board Ok'd.

Assistant Superintendent William Shirk, earned a $3,870 in his first full year with Pottsgrove, a 2.5 percent hike from $154,788 to $158,658.

Longtime Business Manager David Nester will enjoy a raise of nearly $4,000 ($3,928 to be exact), also 2.5 percent. It raises his salary from $157,123 to $161,051.

That 2.5 percent turns out to be relative in another matter too, the teachers' contract.

In a maneuver I have never EVER seen in nearly 30 years of local journalism, the board gave permission for Nester to reveal some details of the district's offer to the teachers union.

They included "step movement in three out of the four years" of the district's contract proposal, "with dollars at the top of scale all four years."

Nester also said the raises being proposed by the district worked out to an increase of 2.85 percent each year for the average teacher.

Other changes were being proposed to avoid the Obamacare tax on "Cadillac" health plans, which will be imposed in 2018.

"We feel like the offer is fair in today's economy," Nester said.

Board member Rick Rabinowitz further added that his personal experience with the more expensive and less expansive health plan showed that the less extensive plan actually saves money.

His wife is a teacher in the Spring-Ford Area School District and Rabinowitz said "we did the math" and concluded that the lower premium, the lower urgent care co-pay and other co-pays resulted in savings that are "pretty substantial" in the long term and offset higher costs that might be incurred for a major illness of health cost.

Comments in support of the teachers by Darlene Robinsons received
a standing 

ovation from the Pottsgrove teachers union members
present at Tuesday night's meeting.

He added that as a professional recruiter, the health care plans and premiums enjoyed  by the district are "not even close" to those in the private sector, where employee contributions are typically much higher.

Two parents -- Darlene Robinson and Danielle Walsh -- both made passionate pleas to the board on behalf of the teachers, re-inforcing the points made by union president Megan DeLena that in three of the last five years, more than 250 teachers in the district have received no pay increases as a way to help Pottsgrove get through a difficult economy.

Here is video of DeLena's complete commentary to the board:


In another unusual move, Nester was drafted to give an update on the budget, months before he usually undertakes the task. He reported that the state index for Pottsgrove would allow tax increases of as much as 3.1 percent without voter approval.

 Here are the Tweets from a very interesting meeting that actually only last a little more than an hour: