Markeshia Ricks Photo
Torre, Caraballo and harp at Monday’s meeting.
The Board of Education has voted to approve a tentative agreement with the New Haven Federation of Teachers to extend its contract for a year.
The board approved extension for the most part keeps the existing salary schedule for teachers the same, but it eliminates the first step of the salary scale, which increases starting pay. That means a teacher with a bachelor’s degree starts at $45,357 instead of $43,759.
The vote took place during the board’s regular biweekly meeting Monday night at L.W. Beecher School.
In addition to the starting pay increase, the new contract preserves existing language about school reform objectives and a commitment to meeting with school system leaders over the course of the year to hash out other areas of concern that there is often no time to discuss during formal negotiations. There also is a slight consumer price index level increase at the top of the scale that balances the elimination of the first step that helps the district’s competitiveness in attracting and maintain teachers.
The cost of the increase is covered by the Professional Educators Program, or PEP, grant. The contract extension is for a year because it is the last tranche of the three-year grant, according to COO Will Clark. The district has already applied for a new grant to cover future pay increases for teachers
The vote vote occurred after another vote that called the process into question.
Who’s On First?
In that earlier vote, BOE members voted 6 to 1 to keep fellow board members Alicia Caraballo and Mike Nast on the board until Dec. 31.
The lone dissenting vote came from Mayor Toni Harp. This past weekend Harp had a police officer deliver a letter to Caraballo stating that her appointment had expired on Sept. 15 and she was no longer a board member. (She said Nast’s appointment expired too, but since she is planning to replace him in January with a new member, Frank Redente from the Farnam Neighborhood House, she wanted to see that seat filled until then.)
Read about the two sides of the Caraballo argument in this previous story.
Harp argued that Caraballo’s appointment was always slated to end on that date. A letter obtained by the Independent shows that on June 23, 2014, after a charter revision set new rules for the board, Caraballo and then president Carlos Torre were notified that her term would expire Sept. 15.
Caraballo defied the letter. She showed up at Monday’s meeting. She took her seat as a board member. And she came to participate and vote.
Torre pointed out during the public comment portion of Monday’s meeting that the mayor had signed an agreement with the Board of Alders that contained language extending terms set to expire this year to the end of December.
The mayor later countered that though she did sign the agreement, she has since been advised by city Corporation Counsel John Rose that it appears that neither board had the authority to extend those terms under the charter.
Torre said he reached out to the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education for advice. He said he was advised that because boards of education are creatures of the state and not city agencies, the mayor has the authority to approve member appointments, but not to remove them at will. And when it comes to a misinterpretation of an agreement, no single board member has more power than another even, if they’re serving as chair, he said.
He said CABE recommended that board members go back to court for an immediate stay of Caraballo’s removal, and that no changes to the board’s makeup be made until the issue is resolved in court.
The board then voted on whether Caraballo could participate in the meeting and vote as a member. The board then cast the vote to seat her until lawyers work out the issue in court.
And that’s how Caraballo got to vote on the extension of the teacher contract.
Alders Walker and Paolillo Jr. at the ed boad meeting.
Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker and Majority Leader Alphonse Paollilo Jr. attended the meeting Monday. They deferred comment about the Caraballo matter to the board’s attorney, Norm Pattis.
Pattis said that his firm has is looking into the Caraballo situation. “We’re sharpening our quiver,” he said.
The Board of Alders makes the final decision on the teacher contract. Whether or not everyone is headed back to court remains to be seen.