After three and a half years, the contract dispute between the nurses and the administration of the Massapequa School District has finally been settled.

The 11 school nurses had been working without a contract since June 1995. This fall the nurses declared an impasse and requested a mediator from the New York State Public Relations Board. According to Virginia Kowal, a co-representative of the nurses, "We had spent a lot of time and the negotiation process really wasn't going anywhere. We did call for a state mediator to come in and he did come in around December." Kowal stated that they only met with the mediator once, briefly, and were able to come to a resolution with very little of his help.

Superintendent James Brucia stated, "We had some very productive meetings with the nurses' representatives over the past several weeks and we were able to reach a settlement."

Some of the difficulties in the negotiation process between the nurses and the district included; salary, contributions to health premiums and caps on unused sick days. On the issue of the health care premium, the nurses conceded and are now contributing either 1 percent of their gross salary or 10 percent of the cost of the premium, whichever is less, for their family health insurance. Individuals pay the lesser of 1/2 a percent of their gross salary or 10 percent of the premium. The six year contract, which works retroactively and goes until June 2001, does provide salary increases for the nurses. For the first two years of the contract the nurses received a 3.2 percent increase and a 3.55 percent increase for the last four years of the contract. The nurses will also receive longevity percentage increases after 10, 15, and 20 years.

Kowal explained that the nurses were also seeking an increase in the cap of their accumulated unused sick days. They accumulate the days and then can buy them back when they retire. The nurses conceded on this request and will not receive the increased cap.

Kowal said that she thinks the contract settlement, which was settled in December and was ratified at the January board of education meeting, was amiable. She added, "Our salaries are now comparable to salaries of school nurses in the area and I think generally everyone is relieved that it's over and is happy with the salary increase." According to the New York State Nurses Association, prior to this settlement, the nurses' wages were the lowest among neighboring districts. Brucia agreed that the settlement was amiable and added, "I think both sides were satisfied with the final arrangement."

According to Brucia the district is, "delighted that it's completed." This settlement was the final contract completion among all that had been negotiated over the last several years and now all the units have signed contracts.

In a statement made at the board of education meeting, board member Robert Thompson stated that he was voting in favor of the new nurses contracts because, "I firmly believe that all school employees should be offered a wage commensurate with their skills and the contribution that they made toward the goals of the school district and I see them being basically to provide the students in our charge with the highest quality education that they can absorb and the taxpayers can afford." He said this should be done in a way that provides students and parents assurances that the district is protecting the students' health and well-being. He said that it is in this capacity that the professional nursing staff comes in. Thompson added, "It would be wrong to expect our professional nurses or any peer employees to work in this school district where the entry level nurses salary is 25-30 percent below the entry level of most other school employees." Thompson expressed the hope that the salary increase would, "enable our administrators to meet the competition in offering nurses, who want to work in the Massapequa School District, a salary that is conducive to their switching jobs and joining our fine nursing staff and remaining on our staff and, for the full length of their chosen careers, serving our children."

Kowal stated, "It was just long and, unfortunately, unnecessarily lengthy but we're glad it's behind us."

Brucia said, "The nurses are a very respected group of employees and we were all frustrated that we were not able to reach a conclusion to this sooner. They were very patient throughout the process, which we appreciated, and we're happy it's concluded."