The Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools and the Hamilton Southeastern Educations Association (HSEA) have been in contract negotiations the past couple of weeks. HSEA has updated its membership during gatherings before school board meetings, the last held October 23. Wednesday afternoon, HSE Schools issued a statement about the talks as they stand now.
The HSE statement, from Superintendent Patrick Mapes, expresses a willingness by the school district to consider union proposals, listen to teachers’ concerns, and work toward solutions that benefit both sides.
Mapes points to the funding mechanism for public schools, largely tied to the number of students. The HSE student population has been slowly declining recently. “We currently are using cash balances to operate the district,” the statement said, “but it would be irresponsible to rely heavily on these funds for a contract agreement.”
Mapes argues the administration contract proposal offers teachers more than additional funding coming from the state. “In hard financial times, we remain committed to providing base salary increases that have a lasting impact for teachers,” said the district.
Mapes points out that the bargaining deadline is November 15 and says HSE is available almost daily to continue the talks. If no agreement is reached by November 15, both sides enter into a fact finding process with the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board.
In updating teachers October 23, the HSEA bargaining team said they had made major concessions in their latest proposal at that time. The most recent social media post from HSEA says, “Due to mediation of the ULP and needing for our attorney to be present, we will be rescheduling bargaining. The district has agreed to provide new dates to the Association in order for us to settle our contract.”
The ULP appears to be unrelated to the contract talks.
Below is the full statement from Superintendent Mapes, posted on the HSE School District’s Web site:
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As we continue collective bargaining process with our teachers’ union for the 2024-25 school year, I want to provide you with information about this important process and our district’s approach.
Our Commitment to Good Faith Bargaining
We are committed to engaging in good faith bargaining with our teachers’ union. That means:
- Approaching negotiations with honesty and transparency
- Listening to the union’s proposals and concerns
- Working diligently to find mutually beneficial solutions.
Understanding Our Funding Structure
It is crucial that everyone understands how our district is funded. Our financial resources are directly tied to student enrollment. It is for this reason that the district bargains a new contract annually, allowing for maximum raises while being good stewards of taxpayer dollars and resources.
- We receive a set dollar amount per student enrolled in our district.
- This per pupil funding is determined by the Indiana General assembly, not at the local level. The next biennium for the education budget will be set in the Spring of 2025.
- This past biennium the state provided record amounts of funding to the education fund. Unfortunately, our enrollment has gone down the last four years, including this year as we are down 209 students.
Balancing Needs and Resources
It is important for everyone to understand that, while we value our teachers immensely, we must also consider broader financial implications of any agreement. The district is committed to avoid any proposal that would adversely impact the future financial condition of the district. We currently are using cash balances to operate the district, but we believe that it is inappropriate to utilize large portions of our cash balances to get an agreement.
Current Position
To be clear, the Unfair Labor Practice that was filed in June, is a separate matter completely unrelated to the collective bargaining process.
The district has presented a proposal that provides a base salary increase for returning teachers. The cost of the total package that has been offered to the teachers is multiple times greater than the estimated new money that has been received by the district. We are committed in hard financial times to still provide an increase to base salaries that have a long-term impact for teachers.
If an agreement is not reached, the parties move to impasse and fact finding before the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board. We are hopeful to avoid this scenario as the bargaining teams have made significant strides through our initial formal bargaining sessions. To that end, our administration is making itself available almost every day through November 15 to continue formal bargaining, as this is a key priority for the school district.
We value all employees who serve our students each day and we appreciate your understanding as we work through a complex process. We look forward to returning to the bargaining table and working with the teacher bargaining team to reach an agreement for the 2024-25 school year.