By DAN SOKIL
Staff Writer

Both Souderton Area School District negotiator Jeff Sultanik and Souderton Area Education Association President Bill Lukridge were interviewed by The Reporter this Thursday for their take on the teachers strike.

The following questions and answers are taken from an interview conducted with Sultanik.

Question: What do you see as the main sticking point at this time?

Sultanik: "As we speak, the parties are unfortunately at an impasse, and have not made progress on the main issues. In fact, if you quantify the amount of money between the union and the school board's positions, the total amount is approximately $13 million at issue, which is very significant in terms of the difference between positions."

Question: Please clarify the current dispute over "8.2 percent per year"; where does that figure come from and what does it mean?

Sultanik: "The union is proposing a 5.98 percent increase in the total district payroll for 2008-09; a 9.4 percent increase for 2009-10; a 7.14 percent increase in 2010-11; and a 6.94 percent increase in 2011-12. That translates to a total payroll of $44,758,906 at the end of that contract, and if you subtract from that the agreed upon base year payroll it would translate into a 32.78 percent increase over four years in the amount of the district's yearly payroll.

If you apply those standard negotiating rules that we had agreed on, you start with $33,707,992 in base salaries. Based on the salary schedule we received from the union, that number would go from $33,707,992 to $35,722,823, which is a 5.98 percent increase. Using the same numbers of the union's, for the second year that number would again increase to $39,080,212, which is a 9.4 percent increase. It's a simple application of the formula, and if you do the same for the next year, the total increases to $41,870,270, which is a 7.14 percent increase, and for the last year you go up to $44,758,906, which will average out to 8.2 percent per year. We have yet to see any numbers from the union that disprove these numbers."

Question: Explain your understanding of the reserve fund - how much is in it, what it can and cannot be used for, how this could or could not fund salary increases for the teachers.

Sultanik: "The reserve fund is composed of a number of different components. Currently $4.2 million of the fund is marked for Capital Reserve; for needed capital programs like new roofs, fixing heaters, upgrades on buildings. We have lots of plants, and we need to have that money reserved to care for that. It's been in place for a long time now, and we draw upon that on an as-needed basis.

"Four million dollars is currently in the fund for principle and interest payments, which is part of our high school relocation plan and is needed to fund increased debt service, to avoid a spike up in taxes... North Montco Technical Career Center is in the middle of considering a $12 million capital improvement program, and we have put away $2.9 million for that, we contribute along with North Penn, Perkiomen Valley, Wissahickon and Methacton school districts... When Bill Lukridge says that money belongs to the teachers union, we have already ascribed it to other purposes."

Question: What do you feel the public needs to know about negotiations and does not?

Sultanik: "A state mediator once told me, I think it was Jill Leeds Rivera, who is the mediator in this case, that if both parties are ready to negotiate a settlement, it can take place in three to four hours. Usually parties, by this state, are maybe one or two million dollars apart, but we're $13 million apart...

"I do want the public to know that the school board does care very much that children are out of school. They are parents and grandparents, and devote extensive time, but are elected to be stewards of the public monies, and the board needs to balance the interests of parents against those of the taxpayers in the community, and arrive at a fair resolution."