Pennsbury School District to post salaries on website
By JOAN HELLYER | Bucks
County Courier Times
The Pennsbury School District will begin, as early as this week, to post the salaries and benefits information for each of its 1,540 employees on the school system's website, officials said.
The district's school board, in a 5-4 split vote Thursday night, agreed to do the posting at www.pennsbury.k12.pa.us based on the requirements of the state's 2009 Right to Know Law.
The website will list each employee's name and his or her salary. The posting also will list employer contributions for each staff member's medical, prescription, dental, life insurance, accidental death (AD&D) insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement, and vision benefits, district spokeswoman Ann Langtry said Friday.
The information is supposed to be made public when requested, board Solicitor Michael Kristofco said, but the state did not set up parameters for putting data on the Internet.
"You are not required by law to post the information and you are not required by law to not post it," the solicitor told board members Thursday night.
The Right to Know Law requires each school system to have a staff member designated for citizens to contact for Open Records requests about individual salaries, benefits and other data designated to be public information. Pennsbury's contact, Business Administrator Isabel Miller, has received 76 open requests since early 2009, district spokeswoman Ann Langtry said Friday.
Board member Simon Campbell suggested that since citizens can obtain the salary and benefits data with an open records request, the district should just go ahead and post everything on the Web and free up staff members from having to respond to the requests.
"We should post the public information, because it is public. It will provide more transparency," said Campbell, a longtime critic of the district's teachers union and the salaries and benefits awarded to union members.
Campbell voted with President Gene Dolnick and board members Gregory Lucidi Jr., Allan Weisel and Kathleen Zawacki to approve the Web posting.
But not all board members agreed. Listing employee names with their salaries and benefits information on the Internet "will cause more harm than good," said board member Howard S. Goldberg, who joined Vice President Gary Sanderson, Wayne DeBlasio, Howard S. Goldberg and Linda L. Palsky in voting against the proposal.
The board has the right to release the "public information" to the public, said Lucy Walter, spokeswoman of the Pennsbury Education Association on Friday. But doing so "is rather disrespectful" to employees, said the teachers union spokeswoman.
"Right now, we should be trying to work in the most respectful way to reach a settlement (on a new contract between the district and PEA)," she said. "That is what will most benefit the students."
The talks, aimed at reaching a new contract retroactive to July 1, have been at a standstill since early August. No new talks have been scheduled, officials said. PEA members have said they will work under the terms of the old contract until a new deal is reached.
Other area districts, including Council Rock and Neshaminy, do not post the employee salary and benefits information on their respective websites and have no plans to do so, officials in those school systems said Friday.
In fact, Pennsbury could be the first or among the first in the state to post the information, according to the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
The trade group does not recommend one way or the other if a district should publicize employee pay and benefits information, said PSBA Chief Counsel Stuart L. Knade. But, he said, PSBA recommends boards keep some things in mind while considering such a move.
The boards should balance "what they hope to gain from doing it against any factors they think might present a downside," Knade said on Friday. "For example, aside from impact on staff morale, a board might conclude that the work and expense involved in keeping that kind of website information current and accurate could turn out to be greater than what it takes to respond to an occasional RTKL request."
The Pennsbury School District will begin, as early as this week, to post the salaries and benefits information for each of its 1,540 employees on the school system's website, officials said.
The district's school board, in a 5-4 split vote Thursday night, agreed to do the posting at www.pennsbury.k12.pa.us based on the requirements of the state's 2009 Right to Know Law.
The website will list each employee's name and his or her salary. The posting also will list employer contributions for each staff member's medical, prescription, dental, life insurance, accidental death (AD&D) insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement, and vision benefits, district spokeswoman Ann Langtry said Friday.
The information is supposed to be made public when requested, board Solicitor Michael Kristofco said, but the state did not set up parameters for putting data on the Internet.
"You are not required by law to post the information and you are not required by law to not post it," the solicitor told board members Thursday night.
The Right to Know Law requires each school system to have a staff member designated for citizens to contact for Open Records requests about individual salaries, benefits and other data designated to be public information. Pennsbury's contact, Business Administrator Isabel Miller, has received 76 open requests since early 2009, district spokeswoman Ann Langtry said Friday.
Board member Simon Campbell suggested that since citizens can obtain the salary and benefits data with an open records request, the district should just go ahead and post everything on the Web and free up staff members from having to respond to the requests.
"We should post the public information, because it is public. It will provide more transparency," said Campbell, a longtime critic of the district's teachers union and the salaries and benefits awarded to union members.
Campbell voted with President Gene Dolnick and board members Gregory Lucidi Jr., Allan Weisel and Kathleen Zawacki to approve the Web posting.
But not all board members agreed. Listing employee names with their salaries and benefits information on the Internet "will cause more harm than good," said board member Howard S. Goldberg, who joined Vice President Gary Sanderson, Wayne DeBlasio, Howard S. Goldberg and Linda L. Palsky in voting against the proposal.
The board has the right to release the "public information" to the public, said Lucy Walter, spokeswoman of the Pennsbury Education Association on Friday. But doing so "is rather disrespectful" to employees, said the teachers union spokeswoman.
"Right now, we should be trying to work in the most respectful way to reach a settlement (on a new contract between the district and PEA)," she said. "That is what will most benefit the students."
The talks, aimed at reaching a new contract retroactive to July 1, have been at a standstill since early August. No new talks have been scheduled, officials said. PEA members have said they will work under the terms of the old contract until a new deal is reached.
Other area districts, including Council Rock and Neshaminy, do not post the employee salary and benefits information on their respective websites and have no plans to do so, officials in those school systems said Friday.
In fact, Pennsbury could be the first or among the first in the state to post the information, according to the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
The trade group does not recommend one way or the other if a district should publicize employee pay and benefits information, said PSBA Chief Counsel Stuart L. Knade. But, he said, PSBA recommends boards keep some things in mind while considering such a move.
The boards should balance "what they hope to gain from doing it against any factors they think might present a downside," Knade said on Friday. "For example, aside from impact on staff morale, a board might conclude that the work and expense involved in keeping that kind of website information current and accurate could turn out to be greater than what it takes to respond to an occasional RTKL request."