District, teachers meet in factfinding session
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HEPPNER
The Morrow County School
District (MCSD) and Morrow
County Education Association
(MCEA) met with a state fact
finder on Wednesday, Jan. 27 at
the Heppner Elks Club. The
district and the teachers are five
months into the school year
without a contract and negotia
tions had reached a standstill.
After hearing testimony from
both sides at the factfinding
meeting, factfinder John Hayduke
will evaluate the information and
make a recommendation after 30
days. In the meantime, the district
and teachers may negotiate,
which they had not been able to
do since the teachers declared an
impasse in negotiations last fall.
Once the factfinder makes his
recommendation they may accept
or reject the factfinder’s decision.
The decision is not binding.
The major bone of contention
between the teachers and the
distret is the teachers’ salary
schedule. The MCSD and
MCEA agree on the base salary
of $20,400 at the lower end of the
pay scale, but differ on salaries
for teachers at the upper end.
Currently employed full-time
teachers’ salaries now range from
$20,400 base, plus $9,933 in
benefits (FICA, Public Employee
Retirement System, PERS, PERS
Pickup, insurance) for a total of
$30,333 to a high of $36,918
base, plus $14,236 in benefits.
Morrow County Heppner, Oregon
Extra days and extra duties can
aldo increase teachers’ salaries.
The district proposes a two per
cent increase the first year of the
contract and a two-and-a-half per
cent increase the second year for
a total of four and four-and-a-half
percent increases, including two
percent cost of living increases
each year.
The education association pro
/
poses restructuring of the salary
schedule that would provide
salary increases ranging from two
percent at the base salary to
around eight percent at the upper
level, plus two percent cost of liv
ing increases.
MCEA says that the salaries
for teachers on the upper end of
* the pay scale rank 47th out of 47
districts. They say their proposal
would increase that ranking to
39th out of 47.
Mike Persons, Oregon Educa
tion Association negotiator, said
at the factfinding session that the
district has increased its carryover
from $1.5 to $2.5 million and
charged that the district is
“ building a savings account on
the backs of the employees
(teachers).” MCEA says that the
raise will cost the district roughly
$111,000 which MCEA says
could easily be taken out of the
carryover.
The district does not dispute the
increase in the carryover, but
maintains that the increase is
necessary because of anticipated
35C
azette
imes
VOL. 112
NO. 5
8 Pages Wednesday, February 3, 1993
Following government regulations
for bankers can be back breaking
One thing local banker George
Koffler never expected to worry
about on the job was getting a
hernia.
Koffler, who is vice president
of the Bank of Eastern Oregon in
Heppner stands with the 52 pound
stack of current federal bank
regulations and compliance
manuals that he must contend
with daily at the office.
“ Most regulations start out as
someone’s good idea,” Koffler
pointed out. “ But once they enter
the political process, they get
loaded up with add-ons and ex
tras and before you know it, one
simple idea becomes a 200 page
regulation that bankers all across
the country are expected to
follow.”
Putting an exact dollar figure
on the size of the burden is dif
ficult. The American Bankers
Association estimated that the na
tion’s banks paid out $10.7 billion
in 1991-a whopping 59 percent of
their profits-just to keep pace with
the industry rules and regulations.
Another more recent study, by
the Federal Financial Institutions
Examinations Council, placed the
total as high as $17.5 billion an
nually. One banking information
services company has stated that
the cumulative stack of laws and
regulations, updates and changes
governing today’s financial in
stitutions exceeds 200,000 pages
and is growing every day.
Moreover, the banking in
dustry could support an additional
$20 to $30 billion of lending each
year if only 25 percent of the
resources banks now spend on
compliance could be redirected to
bank capital.
Reflecting on his own exper
iences, Koffler explained how
George Koffler stands with his books of bank regulations that
he must contend with daily
w ell-intentioned laws often
translate into hundreds and hun
dreds of pages o f detailed
regulations.
“ It is a story of bankers drown
ing in a sea of paperwork, and of
communities bearing the brunt of
less and less available credit, as
more and more bank resources
are shifted away from the core of
business of banking and expend
ed on compliance,"Koffler said.
While recognizing that “ safe
ty and soundness are critical to
the industry,” Koffler also
pointed out that “ we must not
lose sight of the fact that for the
industry to be safe and sound,
banks must be profitable. And to
be profitable, they must not be
weighted down by stacks of un
necessary regulations.”
Two men arrested in car theft ‘Pinocchio'
Two Hermiston men were ar burglary tools and firearms in the auditions set
rested in connection with the theft
of three pickups from three Mor
row County farmers. Pickups
were stolen from Fritz Cutsforth.
Heppner, Wayne Seitz, Lex
ington and Ken Nelson, lone, last
Tuesday, Jan. 26. A Morrow
County
S h eriff’s deputy
recovered a pickup stolen out of
Hermiston which lead to the
discovery of the Morrow Coun
ty thefts.
Oregon State Police arrested
Shawn T. Adlard, 22 and Bobby
G. Burgess, 26, both of Her
miston, in the parking lot of the
Prairie Wood apartments near the
Umatilla State Police office.
The arresting officer saw the
stolen car and blocked it with his
patrol car while he waited for
police backup.
Police found stolen property,
suspected methamphetamines.
car.
Adlard and Burgess were lodg
ed by Morrow County at the Ben
ton County Washington jail on
multiple charges.
Adlard was arrested on charges
of unauthorized use of motor
vehicle, driving while suspended,
possession of a controlled
substance, first degree forgery,
negotiating bad checks, second-
degree burglary, possession of
stolen property, convicted felon
in possession of a firearm,
possession of burglary tools and
second-degree theft.
Burgess was arrested on
charges o f second degree
burglary, possession of stolen
property, possession of burglary
tools, second-degree theft and
convicted felon in possession of
a firearm.
Auditions will be held for the
Missoula Children’s Theatre per
formance of “ Pinocchio” at the
Heppner Middle School gym on
Monday, Feb. 8 from 3:30-5:30
p.m. Fifty roles are available for
local talent and students K-12 and
adults are encouraged to audition.
Rehearsals for some cast
members will follow auditions
and will continue throughout the
week. The performance will take
place on Saturday, Feb. 13 in the
Heppner Middle School gym at
7 p.m.
“ Pinocchio" is made possible
through US West and is presented
locally by the Morrow County
Museum with funding from the
Morrow County School District's
artist-in-residence program.
For further information call the
M orrow County M useum,
676-5524.
cuts because of Ballot Measure 5,
inflation and enrollment growth.
The district says they anticipate
a 20 percent reduction in
spending.
According to the district
teacher proposal, salary in
creases, plus already built-in step
increases and other payroll costs,
which amount to around 25 cents
for each dollar, will result in
around $300,000 in payroll in
creases for the 1992-93 contract
year. They also say that the car
ryover must be sufficient to sup
port the district from June 30 until
they receive monies from taxes in
November and in the event of
unexpected problems.
The district and teachers differ
on interpretation of Oregon
legislators’ comments concerning
carryovers and Ballot Measure 5.
The district says that legislators
have indicated that a large car
ryover will help the district when
faced with state cuts.
MCEA says that the legislature
has indicated that large car
ryovers will reduce the amount of
state aid and hurt the district.
Other disputed factors include:
♦Insurance. The district is of
fering $400 per month in in
surance benefits per teacher, for
a total of $4,800 a year. MCEA
asks that the insurance benefits be
raised to $460 monthly per
teacher for the first year of the
contract and $535 per month for
the second year to maintain cur
rent coverage with their present
insurance carrier.
The district says that com
parable coverage could be pur
chased for under $400 a month if
the teachers are willing to switch
carriers.
♦Site committees. Under new
regulations, site committees are
required at each school. Teachers
are asking to be paid for the train
ing to be on the committee and
for time spent in committee
meetings. The teachers and
district also disagree on ter
minology for election of members
of the committees.
♦Aides. The teachers are re
questing instructional assistants
for non-English speaking students
(NES) and limited English "Speak
ing students (LES), on ajatio of
one aide to every 10 students and
as required for mentally retard
ed students. There are currently
30 NES students, 116 LES and
15 mentally retarded students in
the district.
♦Preparation time. Teachers
now have 30 minutes of prepara
tion time specified in their con
tracts. However, the negotiating
team says that elementary
teachers actually get 60 minutes
of prep time, because students
spend time away from the
classroom in music, art, PE and
other programs. Because the
teachers fear that cuts in special
programs may eliminate 30
minutes of prep time, they are
asking for 60 minutes in their
contract. MCEA says that junior
high teachers actually have
around 80-100 m inutes of
preparation time and high school
teachers get around 100 minutes.
The district, however, says that
providing additional teachers to
cover for the additional half hour
of preparation time during class
time would be the equivalent of
hiring five full time teachers.
Persons said that the teachers
realize that budget cuts could
result in teacher layoffs.
Ed
Rutledge,
MCSD
negotiator, said that increased
salaries and layoffs could result
in bigger class sizes and
countered that having fewer
educators would “ transfer the
budget shortfall to the backs of
the students.”
Zipper clause. The district
maintains the clause would pre
vent the teachers from raising
new issues during the term of a
contract. The MCEA says that
the district is asking the teachers
to “ waive their existing rights to
bargain changes in working con
ditions,” according to Persons.
Early retirement. The MCEA
is asking for an annual stipend of
three percent of base pay for
teachers with 25 years with the
district; two percent for those
with 20 years and one percent for
those with 15 years. The stipend
would be for 80 months or until
the employee would qualify for
social security benefits. The
MCEA says that the plan would
save the district money.
The district says that the plan
would add additional costs-
monies for teachers as they reach
the upper wage steps and monies
for retirement stipends.
The district dropped a proposal
that teachers not be allowed more
than one step increase a year.
With the teachers' proposal, with
step increases and cost-of-living
increases, a teacher could receive
a salary increase of around seven
and-a-half percent.
The district also dropped a pro
posal that teachers be required to
work eight hours a day. Accor
ding to Morrow County School
Superintendent Ralph Reed,
teachers’ hours now range from
five-and-three fourths to six-and-
a-fourth hours a day. According
to Cara Osmin, a member of the
MCEA negotiating team,
teachers work around 7.5 hours
a day, depending on their school
building. The 7.5 hours includes
a duty-free half hour lunch.
MCEA dropped a proposal that
if the PERS Pickup (a public
employee retirement contribution
that is now made by the district)
is discontinued by law that all
salaries be increased by nine
percent.
lunch prices increase
Child passenger School
Landauer said that the district
The Morrow County School
safety week set
Heppner Police Chief Rathbun
has announced that February 8-14
will be observed as “ Child
Passenger Safety Awareness
Week.”
In making the announcement
Rathbun said, “ the leading cause
of death in children is automobile
crashes. More than 70 percent of
these deaths could be prevented
if children were properly secured
in safety seats. It is imperative
that parents buckle their children
into appropriate seats each and
every time they travel.”
The National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration estimates
that as many as 49,000 injuries
and 455 deaths could have been
prevented in 1991, if every child
under the age of five was correct
ly secured in a child safety seat.
QAHK or - = = —
U 'J E a s itm O regon
4000 1234 5670
District at a special meeting Feb.
1, announced plans to increase
lunch prices for Morrow County
students.
According to Shirley Lan-
dauer, district accountant,
elementary school prices will rise
from 75 cents to $1 and junior
high and high school lunches will
go from $1 to $1.25.
According to Landauer, the
district lunch program budget for
this year was around $715,000.
$350,000 of the lunch budget was
transferred from the district's
general fund, the remaining por
tion was obtained through lunch
sales and reimbursements from
the federal lunch program.
expects to save around $150,000
this year through portion control,
group purchasing through
Multnomah County Education
Service District, implementation
of district-wide menus and lunch
price hikes. Landauer said that
milk, fresh meat and produce will
continue to be purchased locally.
She said that she expects that
it will be another two years before
the program breaks even.
Adult lunch prices will remain
the same until teacher contract
negotiations are over, she said.
In other business the board
voted to extend employment con
tracts to Landauer and assistant
superintendent Roger Helmer.
Silver donated for pool raffle
One hundred ounces of silver
have been donated by Bill and
Patty Gentry of Heppner to “ Peo
ple for the Pool” to raise funds
for a swimming pool in Heppner
Raffle tickets for the 10
10-ounce bars will sell for $1
each or six for $5. Tickets will
be on sale at various local mer
chants on a rotating basis begin
ning at the Bank of Eastern
Oregon.
The Bank of Eastern Oregon
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