No progress on Brentwood schools teacher pact

The Brentwood school board tabled discussion Thursday night over an effort to amend a teachers contract that originally included some of the biggest pay concessions on Long Island.

An opponent of the proposed amendment, known as a Memorandum of Agreement, said it would cost the district an extra $5 million and possibly force reductions in Advanced Placement courses, sports and other student programs.

"I'm not going to let them take $5 million from our children," said George Talley, the board's former president and a controversial figure in the district, who is leading the opposition.

Supporters of the amendment disagree, saying it would simply clear up confusing language in the existing agreement, and ensure that teachers do not lose more money than was originally intended. "What we're not doing is abusing the agreement so we can save a boatload of money," said Stephen Coleman, the current board chairman and a former Talley ally who has split with his former leader. "They [the teachers] are sacrificing."

But three of the seven board members called in sick, two with stomach problems and a third one who said she may have gotten the flu after a flu shot, Coleman said. At least five members are needed to have majority vote, he said.

"What we did was absolutely nothing," he said Thursday night.

He said no new date was set for discussion.

Brentwood's teacher union is the Island's largest, and the revised contract it accepted in April 2010, was widely considered a landmark. Teachers at the time agreed to a pay freeze for the 2010-11 school year, along with $900 in individual paycheck cuts to be repaid without interest at retirement. Later, the $900 cuts were made permanent.

In return, teachers saved more than 200 jobs, and Brentwood retained popular programs, including full-day kindergarten.

Moreover, teachers were to gradually recover an annual "step increase," built into their pay schedule, that they lost in 2010-11. However, a dispute arose over the question of whether or not recovery of the step, at the rate of one quarter each year, would be cumulative.

Joe Hogan, the union president, Joe Bond, the superintendent and Coleman told Newsday that the proposed amendment would make clear the step recovery was cumulative, thus awarding teachers more money.

Bond denied this would force cuts in programs, saying of the cumulative step additions that "as a percent of our budget, it's a very small number."

On another level, the contract dispute represented a bid by Talley to recover some of the influence he lost in July, when a board joined by two new members chose Coleman as president. As president, Talley had been accused by some former district workers of employing racial epithets against them -- a charge Talley denied.