The Mail-Journal, Volume 20, Number 42, Milford, Kosciusko County, 2 November 1983 — Page 1

IMian* State library U|o Forth Senate Ava. lanepoll a, Dr

Phones: 658-4111

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VOLUME 2t

LCEA, school administration differ on salary negotiations

Teachers' story... “Because the movements are so small, we have given no counter proposals,” commented Dave Matz, head negotiator for the Lakeland Community Education Association, who has to take the next move before negotiations between the LCEA and the Lakeland administration resume. After several meetings since July, neither side has come to an agreement on teacher salaries and health insurance, the only two contract items up for renewal. “Part of the negotiating process is showing you’re willing to move,” added Phil Metcalf, LCEA president, agreeing with Matz that the administration’s offers are “unrealistic” and “irritating.” “Our whole contention,” continued Metcalf, “is there is nothing about this corporation that is below average except teachers’ salaries. Primarily, the crux of our position is there is no reason why they (the administration) can’t afford it (increased salaries).” As a basis for its arguments, LCEA compared its current proposal of 7.75 per cent to Goshen and Concord schools’ recently agreed upon salaries. For a bachelor’s degree, first year teacher, LCEA has proposed $13,540 while Goshen and Concord give $13,405 and $13,400 respectively. For a bachelor’s degree after five years, LCEA proposes $15,113 with Goshen and Concord at $16,086 and $15,812. For a first year teacher with a master’s degree, a requirement after five years of teaching, LCEA is asking $14,500 while Goshen and Concord settled for $14,678 and $14,472. Respective LCEA proposals for a master’s degree at 10,15 and the top of the pay scale as compared to Goshen and Concord are: $19,152 to $20,711 and $20,368; $21,965 to $23,727 and $22,914; and $25,452 after 20 years to $25,537 after 18 years and $25,058 after 20. At the last special school board meeting, held Tuesday, Oct. 25,42 teachers and spouses presented the board with a list of 39 school corporations in the state who have settled above the LCEA proposal. Included on the hand-out was the average state settlement which ranged from 6.1 to 6.4 per cent, the LCEA proposal of 7.75 and the administration’s proposal of 4.5. All of these figures do not include the already agreed upon two per cent increment which is not received by 38 corporation teachers. Acknowledging that some of the corporations on the list were larger than Lakeland while others were smaller, the LCEA members believe corporation size is irrelevant to the issue. “Size (of the corporations) does not determine salary,” Metcalf said after explaining that no matter the size of the corporation, teachers spend approximately the same amount of time in the classroom, have close to the same size of class and do the same jobs. “There are other people doing exactly the same job for more money.” The LCEA contends the entire teaching profession is going to be affected by an upcoming teacher shortage as a result of low salaries. As an example of “what we’re going to be hit with,” Matz quoted a report of the number of teachers who graduated from the four major state universities in the science area showing three graduates in chemistry, four in earth science and two in physics. LCEA representatives believe the prevailing attitude in colleges and universities today

(Continued on page 2) UNACCEPTED FACT-FINDER'S REPORT MASTERS DEGREE 1982-83 1983-84 1982-83 1963-84 Teacher’s Lakeland Fact-Finder Teacher’s Lakeland Fact-Finder Experience Salary Proposal Experience Salary Proposal 0 13,457 14,571 12 18,820 20,346 1 13,851 14,986 13 19,340 20,894 2 14,245 15,396 14 19,861 21,445 3 14,637 15,812 15 30,385 21,987 4 15,030 16,223 16 30,910 22,550 5 15,431 16,635 17 21,435 23,141 6 15,813 17,118 18 21,997 23,732 7 16,272 17,598 19 22,559 24,849 8 16,728 18,149 ’ 20 23,621 24,849 9 17,252 18,698 21 24,849 10 17,774 19,247 22 24,849 11 18,296 , 19,799 BACHELORS DEGREE 1982-83 1963-84 1982-83 1983-84 Teacher’s Lakeland Fact-Finder Teacher’s Lakeland Fact-Finder Experience Salary Proposal Experience Salary Proposal 0 12,566 13,531 10 15,481 16,592 1 12,862 13,842 11 15,772 16,898 . 2 13,158 14,143 12 16,063 17,203 3 13,444 14,450 13 16,353 17,509 4. 13,736 14,755 14 16,644 17,816 5 14,026 15,061 15 16,985 18,122 6 14,317 15,368 16 17,226 18,427 7 14,609 15,674 17 17,516 19,248 8 14,889 15,981 18 18,297 9 15,191 16,286 Listed above are the suggested salaries for Lakeland Conununity Schools’ teachers according to Joseph Ransel, Jr., state assigned fact-finder. Because the Lakeland Conununity Educators Association has officially rejected the recommendations, the administration negotiating team has postponed action on the report.

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Consolidation o/THE MILFORD MAIL IE st. 188»l and THE SYRACUSE-WAWASEE JOURNAL /Est. 1907) WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 2.1M3

By GAIL WIDMOYER

Staff Writer

Administrations story.. . “The important thing is that we get back to the table and get back to negotiating." stressed George Gilbert, assistant superintendent and head negotiator for the administration in the ongoing conflict over Lakeland teacher salaries and insurance monies. The groups have been meeting since July and have been unable to reach an agreement on the two contract items up for review. In providing a history of negotiations, Gilbert said during the first meeting of the year, both sides agreed new money from the state would be an estimated $355,000 which was the basis for each side’s original proposal. “New money” is awarded every year to state corporations to help compensate for increasing fuel, utility and supply costs, as well as increased salaries for teaching and non-teaching staffs within the schools. The teacher’s first proposal, topping 21 per cent, was $640,000. Since the philosophy of negotiations is “you bid high, I’ll bid low and hopefully we’ll end up in the middle,” the administration and school board’s original offer had to be extremely low and their subsequent offers must be marginal until teachers’ counter proposals are within range. During the last three negotiating sessions, the school board has made the last offers and received no counter offers from the Lakeland Community Educators Association. While LCEA representatives physically leave the negotiating table last, when movement stops because one side refuses to make an offer, as it has in the last three meetings, administration representatives consider negotiations have stopped and teachers figuratively “leave the table first.” “We have never refused to negotiate,” said Gilbert, “and we’d be very happy to get it over with. We’re waiting for them to make an offer and we’re willing to negotiate at any time, 1 don’t know how else to express that.” One of the “critical” obstacles in negotiations is the matter of increment. Increment pay is an already agreed upon two per cent salary increase that is received by all teachers except those at the top of the salary schedule and the first year educators, or 38 out of 162 teachers. If the increment is added on to the teachers’ last proposal of 7.75 per cent, the total salary increase for most teachers would be 9.75 per cent, not including an additional $50,000 in health insurance for a total requested 11.5 package. “The increment is money the teachers already have,” Gilbert added. On the other hand, the administration's last proposal offered a 6.5 per cent salary increase, including increment; S2OO additional for the family health insurance plan, or S7O additional for the single insurance plan. The administration has doubled its insurance offer over last year’s settlement which was SIOO additional for the family plan and $35 for the single plan. As a further argument, the administration compared its last salary proposals to Wa-Nee and Fairfield’s recent settlements. For a first year teacher with a bachelor’s degree, the administration is offering $13,131 while Wa-Nee settled for $12,533 and Fairfield settled for $13,140. For a bachelor’s degree after five years, the administration offered $14,657 compared to Wa-Nee’s $15,053 and Fairfield’s $14,580.

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COSTUME WINNERS-Syracuse Merchants who were named winners in the costume judging at Moonlight Madness last week end are shown above with judges and general chairman Mim Speicher.

Seated in front are Kris Essig, Dee Harding and Jodi Freel. In the middle row are Jim StiMson. Gerry Bauer, Mrs. Speicher. Jackie Ptikerd and Cherri Byrd. In back are Bob Pilcher and Butch Plikerd. (Photo by Mike Skevington)

Lions host 'Chemical People' at Milford at 7:30 tonight

The Milford Lions will host two town hall meetings at 7:30 p.m. on November 2 and 9 at 7:30 p.m. each night in the community building At 8 p m on each of these nights, the Public Broad casting Service will be televising one-hour programs entitled “The Chemical People.” The objective of these broadcasts will be to point out the threat posed to young people by drug and alcohol abuse. The first evening of programing is intended to inform and motivate viewers to examine the scope of the problem, while the second

Area lakes stocked with rainbow trout More than 19.000 rainbow trout will be stocked in 25 Indiana lakes by the Department of Natural Resources, according to DNR director Jim Ridenour. The seven-inch rainbows, raised at Twin Branch State Fish Hatchery in Mishawaka, are being stocked this month in Sechrist and Wyland Lakes in Kosciusko County. The trout are a strain tolerant of warm water, and those that are not taken by anglers this winter are expected to provide summer fishing next year. Anglers between the ages of 17 and 64 must possess a valid Indiana license and trout-salmon stamp to fish for trout.

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CHECKING SUPPLIES — Members of Milford Area Development who are responsible for the annual chili supper scheduled this year for Saturday, Nev. 5, from 4 :» until 7:3h pm. at the Milford Community Building are checking all of the supplies in the kitchen so Jennie Heckaman, head cook, can begin preparing the chili Saturday. The full meal, including dessert, will also be available for carry outs for anyone who brings his own container. Workers for the supper pictured above from the left are: Missy Sorensen. MAD secretary; Mrs. Heckaman; Jean Treesh, MAD president; Marcy Haab, MAD vice president: and Mark Haab. overseer. (Photo by Gail Widmoyer)

evening is intended to offer hope and guidance as communities are informed on how to form permanent task forces to prevent substance abuse. •following the programs, hosted in part by Nancy Reagan, a live local ’follow-up’ will examine substance abuse in Michiana. It will be hosted by David Barrett. The intent of the local broadcast is to relate the information presented to the situation closer to home. Similarly, in communities across the nation people are being encouraged to join together to

Fog causes collision

A dense patch of fog which reduced visibility to 10 feet was the cause of a rear-end collision between a 1969 Pontiac Gran Prix driven by Darrell A. Brookins, 94, Leesburg, and a semi-trailer, driven by Odie E. Follis, 29, Columbus, Ohio, in Milford on SR 15N last Thursday, Oct. 27. According to Town Marshal Dave Hobbs, the Brookins vehicle was northbound on SR 15 at approximately 8 a.m. when it entered the fog and was forced to slow down because another vehicle slowed down in front of him. When the semi entered the fog, Follis discovered the Brookins vehicle had slowed down, but he was too close to avoid the accident. Due to the weather conditions, no one was arrested but it was determined Follis was at fault. Damage was estimated at

view the documentaries in “townhall” meetings in attempts to become more aware of their local problems.

The Lions sponsored program will be concluded each evening with a question an answer session conducted by a local resource panel composed of pharmacists, high school students and others. Wawasee High School Principal Dr Howard J. Hull will be among the guests at tonight’s meeting Residents of the community are urged to attend and reminded that for any widespread problem to be solved it takes group effort, organization and a united front.

SI,OOO to the Brookins vehicle, a total loss, and $2,000 to the semi. SAFE accepts applications November 1 Beginning November 1, a program of fuel assistance for the low income and elderly of the state is accepting applications for the 1983-84 heating season. The Project SAFE office in Kosciusko County is located at the Old Court House Building. Lake Street Entrance. Warsaw . The office is open Monday through Friday, 12 noon to 4 p.m. For more information, call or visit the intake site, or call the South Bend Project SAFE office at 232-6501.

Community towns feature full slates on Tuesday All three Lakeland communities — Milford, North Webster and Syracuse - have full slates for the November 8 election. Voters in all three communities will elect a clerk-treasurer and three town board members. Syracuse’s town board is composed of five board members, however, terms are staggered and only three members will be elected this year Polls will be open from 6 a m to 6 p.m. AU voters must be registered and must live in the town limits of the town in which thev are casting their votes. Below are the voting places for ‘the general election as designated by the board of commissioners and the names of candidates seeking office in each of the communities: Milford Voters in all three precincts of Van Buren Township will vote at the Milford Community Building on Main Street. REPUBLICAN DEMOCRATIC Clerk-Treasurer Monica Bice Margaret Brooks Town Board Member — First Ward Dennis Wut hrich Steve Miller Town Board Member — Second Ward W alter Ritter Jean Treesh Town Board Member — Third Ward Mary Lozano Darrell Orn North Webster Persons residing in the first precinct of Tippecanoe Township will vote at Camelot HaU in the Counting House Rank Building. Persons residing in the second precinct will vote at the fire station. REPUBLICAN DEMOCRATIC Clerk-Treasurer * Evalee M Payne Marian Ruth Breyer Town Board Member — First Ward Sidney E. Markley, Jr. Earl Wayne Jernigan Town Board Member — Second Ward 1 al S. Smith Robert A. James Town Board Member — Third Ward Myron L. Clark Thurman Burnworth Syracuse Voters in Syracuse will cast their ballots in the foUowiig locations; First precinct. Saint Andrew’s United Methodist Church, SR 13 N, second precinct, American Legion Post 225, SR 13S; third precinct. Scout Cabin. SR 13 and Henry Street; fourth precinct, Syracuse Junior High School; fifth precinct, American Legion Post 223, SR 13S. REPUBLICAN DEMOCRATIC Clerk-Treasurer Jennifer Hughes Mark L Tatman Town Board Member — Third Ward Steven Butt Robert M Jones Town Board Member— Fourth Ward William Hess J ames W. McClintic Town Board Member — Fifth Ward Joseph Morganthaler Joseph W. Hughes

NIPSCo earnings improve but are still inadequate

HAMMOND — Edmund A. Schroer. chairman and chief executive officer of Northern Indiana Public Service Company, reported today. Friday. Oct. 28. that audited figures for the 12 months ended September 30 indicate net income of $125 0 million compared to sBl.l million (including the cumulative effect on prior periods of an accounting change; the sBl.l million would be $61.6 million excluding such a change) for the 12 months ended September 30.1982. “Despite the improvement," Schroer said, "earnings are still only slightly above the $1.50 annual dividend, which has not been increased since 1977." On a per share basis, earnings improved to $1.60 from $1.20 (including the cumulative effect of the accounting change; the $1.20 would be SO.BI excluding such a change) for the comparable interim a year ago, but were still below the $1.69 per share (with 17 million fewer common shares outstanding) reported for the 12 months ended September 30, 1981. There were more than nine million additional common shares outstanding during the 1983 period. "The improved earnings reflected a combination of factors which converged in this year’s third quarter," Schroer said. "This past summer was one of the hottest on record in the Midwest, resulting in heavy air conditioning usage by all customer classes. During the months of July, August and September there were 35 days on which the therinometer reached 90 degrees or above, compared with only seven days for the average summer. As a result, the residential segment, approximately 18 per cent of the total load which is especially sensitive to weather conditions, experienced a 28 per cent increase in electric sales compared to 1982’s third quarter. " Schroer continued, “Industrial sales of electricity rose, par-

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ticularly in the heavy industrial sector, reflecting the improving economic climate in northern Indiana. For the third quarter, industrial sales of electricity increased 18 per cent compared to the same period in 1982, however, it should be noted that the 1982 quarter was in a very severe recession. Other factors contributing to the earnings improvements were the August. 1983, rate increase and the continuing effects of a stringent and extensive cost control program instituted earlier this year. As a result of these developments, net income for the three months ended September 30. 1983, rose to $35.7 million ($0.44 a share) from $7.3 million ($0.04 a share) during the depressed third quarter of 1982. (Contiuedon page 2) Saturday break-in at Syracuse Hdw. When Lee Carboneau arrived to open the door of his Syracuse Hardware in uptown Syracuse Saturday morning, he found someone had already beat him there. The glass in his front door had been broken out and entry was made into the store, apparently by someone interested in hand guns. The gun case had its front glass broken out. The hardware places its valuable hand guns under lock and key each night, although its rifles and shotguns rested in their racks undisturbed. Carboneau said his doors are secured by electronic devices which sound at the Syracuse Police Station. In the brief time it took Syracuse police to respond, the thieves had made their hasty escape. Police are continuing their investigation.