Neshaminy Letter to the Arbitrator

March 11, 2012
This letter is to provide feedback on the Neshaminy School District contract impasse. Due to the number of outstanding issues, this letter will only address those items not agreed upon by both parties and considered by parents and taxpayers to be critical to the future of education in Neshaminy School District. The undersigned have reviewed and agreed with the content. The comments are divided into the following sections: Child Safety, Teacher Responsibilities, and Salary and Benefits. Each point will be supported by data and/or common sense and reasoning.

Child Safety

Mandatory Drug Testing
Neshaminy School Board (NSB) proposal
To ensure employee, student, and community safety and to maintain a drug-free environment.
Neshaminy Federation of Teachers (NFT) proposal
No proposal for drug testing

Parent/Taxpayer Recommendation
The parents and taxpayers in the Neshaminy School District believe that the NSD’s proposal is appropriate in an environment when any individual works with children, but believe it should be further expanded to specifically include alcohol testing. Drug and alcohol testing in the workplace has become increasingly common over the last decade. Many employers now test their employees for illegal drugs and alcohol as a measure to improve safety within the workplace. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides guidelines around the use of drugs and alcohol in the workplace:
• An employer may prohibit the illegal use of drugs and the use of alcohol at the workplace.
• It is not a violation of the ADA for an employer to give tests for the illegal use of drugs.
• An employer may discharge or deny employment to persons who currently engage in the illegal use of drugs.
• Employees who use drugs or alcohol may be required to meet the same standards of performance and conduct that are set for other employees.

Because there have been several DUIs and two shoplifter arrests for teachers in the last three years, it is imperative that implementation of this policy is included in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the NSD and NFT to ensure a safe learning and working environment for students, teachers, and staff.

Background Checks
NSB proposal
At the discretion of the Board or Administration, a background check may be conducted at any time at the expense of the District with respect to any bargaining unit member or members.
NFT proposal
No proposal for background checks

Parent/Taxpayer Recommendation
The parents and taxpayers of the NSD support the addition of background checks to the NSB/NFT CBA. In addition, we strongly encourage the addition of background checks prior to an offer of employment to ascertain whether an applicant has a criminal record, in particular related to crimes against children. Almost every organization associated with children, including Boy Scouts, churches, athletic associations, social service organizations, charities, etc., requires background checks on any individual working with children. It is not unreasonable to extend this requirement to teachers being offered a position whereby they would be entrusted with our children.

We also recommend the inclusion of a mandatory clause for anyone employed by the NSD to immediately notify authorities of any report or suspicion of sexual abuse by adults on children within the School District.

Reports of sexual abuse by adults on children are rampant in today’s society. The recent scandals in the Catholic Church and at Penn State have raised awareness of this problem within the Commonwealth and around the nation. Like teachers, these individuals are trusted role models for our children. In 2004, the U.S. Department of Education estimated that 9.6% of children in K-12 were victims of some type of sexual abuse (comments, contact, or both) (Section 3.2) and that teachers and coaches accounted for 33% of sexual infractions (Table 7). (Shakeshaft, 2004)

Section 11.1, titled “Actions of Teacher Unions,” of this same report states, “Until recently, teacher unions in many states have actively opposed legislation that would require positive identification (e.g., fingerprinting) of teachers convicted of sexual abuse of students. In most states, teachers who are already employed are exempt from regulations such as fingerprint identification. There is no research that documents teacher union attempts to identify predators among their members.” (Shakeshaft, 2004) A potential employee or employee generally will not voluntarily admit to sexual predator tendencies. Therefore, it is the NSD’s responsibility to the children of this School District to do everything within its power to attempt to protect them from this type of potential attack.

Ms. Shakeshaft further supports implementation of hiring practices (Section 12.2 of this report), “A common form should be used for all applications which includes questions on work history, identification that will facilitate background checks, and all informa...