“Once we were able to separate those two items, there was a lot we found we could agree on,” said Auger.

So let me get this straight, there is a new contract for the lunch ladies, who shouldn't have one, the Paras are in the exact same boat they have been since June, and there is still pending litigation regarding the janitors. Sounds to me like exactly nothing has changed since yesterday. If the Union succeeds in court and the janitors are back in the ESP mix, how would that affect the "3 year" contract? How much of the savings will be given to a town lawyer?

Are the 'added costs' items *per employee* or total? Looks that way yet the savings items are definitely total of all employees.

I'm also disappointed that the new contract didn't properly address the custodian issue -- at the very least the TC should have negotiated for ESP to drop their court case. Seems like unfinished business and for both parties to properly move forward in good faith it would have been best to settle everything.

@MeanEric; Don't sweat it, your spouse will still receive the union healthcare plan and you can still freeload off of it while you sit home and blog on patch all day

Samantha,
This article is missing a huge point made by Vice Chair Ceresi at last night's meeting. The savings of 1.8 million in this contract is in addition to the 1.8 million of savings from unilateral changes already made by the SC, for a total of 3.6 million in savings. The public needs to know that.

Mrs A, Why would we have a 3 year contract for a cafeteria situation that is losing lots of money, and is the only one in RI not contracted out yet? Not lookin to pick on anyone, just wondering why. It is a well know fact the in-house cafeteria loses money each year. If there is a reason to spend this extra money, let just hear it.

hi Steve,
There isn't anything extra being spent any longer as it looks as though cafeteria services will break even this year, largely due to the changes the SC made in the contract. The situation has changed. The reason the contract was losing money was it contained things like full family health care for part time employees working very few hours per week. We eliminated that (and other things), we had to. So the contract is no longer costing this district, we are saving huge amounts from the previous contract. If that situation changes again in the future, the SC will have to revisit the outsourcing possibility.

Wow good question, good answer, thats great news. I'm sure we owe Larry Ceresi a debt of gratitude for great work done here!

Mrs. Avanzato,
I want to thank you and the entire SC on negotiating such an amazing contract that keeps trained employees working while saving taxpayers money. Please provide your skills to the TC to resolve the firefighter’s contract.

I was right (what else is new!). From the other Patch article on this:

"The NK School Committee's negotiations sub-committee (made up of Kimberly Page, Larry Ceresi and John Boscardin) and Superintendent Phil Auger..."

@ We R NK, I am not PS of NK. If I post, I do it under my own name.

Yes Boscardin posts under his own name. Before he was named to the school committee, his posts were at times, inflammatory, controversial, strongly worded, and even outrageous. Everyone thought that represented him fully. Then when he got onto the committee, we got to see the real live John B, and he's been good on there, even handed and thoughtful. The lesson being, blogs are a place where we can dump our emotions about issues, but dont judge the people behind the names by the nature of blog contributors to be outspoken at times.

NK Voter
The SC was told that there was about $50,000 in potential savings remaining (as I said most of the savings were already claimed when we made unilateral changes to the contract). As part of our agreement with ESP, they will drop most of their grievances against the district, thereby saving substantial legal costs. There were multiple reasons why the SC didn't outsource right now. For now the food services budget is breaking even, we just made quite dramatic changes in pay and benefits to this group of employees, and we already are in court with this bargaining unit regarding janitorial. You can't always do everything all at once, or in the same area of the budget. When this contract expires (and that is only two years from now, the Committee will have to reconsider their options. The majority of the Committee made it clear that if we run a deficit again in food services, we will have to outsource.

Politics Sheriff of NK & Jim Lawrence is the same person = Chris Prata aka NKSpending.org

Doesn't even live in NK anymore................

The School Committee and Superintendent deserve praise for negotiating this contract. We hear politicians talk about “holding the line on spending”; however, this SC has done it over the past several years. They made difficult decision such as outsource the janitorial services and took-on the union.

The Town Council under the leadership of Dolan continues to increase their budget every year. I challenge the TC to keep to 0 percent budget for this upcoming year while NOT increase other fees (water bills, transfer station, car taxes & recreation fees).

EXACTLY. This SC has done a great job with the situation they have to work with. There are state and federal rules galore that wee MUST abide by, strong and specific requirements that we MUST do. Strong unions with their own rules and our contractual obligations to them, and a finite amount of money available to accomplish everything and more. No one is perfect, but I defy anyone not on the committee to work out all that better than these folks have, and in a bipartisan manner too.

NK_Voter,

The TC has increased town revenue by increasing taxes, fees and imposing new taxes (Car tax). They did held the Schools to no increase; however, they spent more money on the town side. That's doesn't help taxpayers. I just hope they will hold the town to a 0% increase for just one year. Make the tough cuts on the town side as they required of the school committee .