CBSD and office workers union at odds over workloads and pay – Bucks Round-Up – February 19, 2026
CBSD and office workers union at odds over workloads and pay
Contract tensions are rising in the Central Bucks School District as more than 1,000 support staff members warn they are prepared to take a harder line in upcoming negotiations. At January’s board meeting, roughly 100 members of the Central Bucks Education Support Professional Association packed the room, with union president Deneen Dry describing a “workforce crisis.” The union represents 1,200 office workers, bus drivers, nurses, custodians, maintenance and security staff. Dry said the district has lost about 100 support employees since the start of the school year, increasing workloads without corresponding pay. While some district employees are receiving stipends for added duties, Dry said support staff are not. She also noted that during 2021 talks, workers remained under a status quo contract for months without raises. That will not happen again, she said, signaling the union will “pursue the next appropriate steps” if a deal is not reached before the current contract expires in June. The issue is magnified by cost-of-living pressures. According to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, a single adult in Bucks County needs about $26 an hour to meet basic needs. A nurse under the 2023 agreement earns $26.50 an hour, while a five-year bus driver earns just over $27. Dry claims 80 percent of support staff require public assistance or a second job.
New retail and housing expected to surround Langhorne Regional Rail Station
SEPTA officials anticipate making changes to the areas around Langhorne Regional Rail Station to make it more walkable, creating new retail spaces and housing. The agency expects the Langhorne Station Area Concept to foster revitalization in Penndel Borough. Ambler, Conshohocken, and Germantown stations have also been undergoing similar redevelopment work as part of SEPTA’s Transit-Oriented Communities program. Details of the plan have yet to be determined.
Residents call on school board to make stadium main focus
Residents are urging the Council Rock School Board to prioritize completion of a long-promised stadium at Council Rock High School South when they vote on the issue Thursday. The project, estimated at $7.5 million, is competing with an $18 million renovation of the district’s 1870s-era administration building. South remains the only public high school in Bucks County without its own football stadium, despite winning the SOL National title in 2024. The board is expected to vote on architectural and construction contracts that would move the stadium forward.
Bucks man to serve long prison term for killing his mother
A Bucks County courtroom delivered justice in a grim homicide case. William Michael Ingram was sentenced to 30 to 64 years in state prison for the 2024 killing of his 82-year-old mother, Dolores Ingram, inside their Holland condominium. Common Pleas Judge Stephen A. Corr handed down the sentence to William Michael Ingram after Deputy District Attorney Monica Furber argued for a sentence in the aggravated range. Furber further requested that the counts be served consecutively, a request Judge Corr granted, citing the gravity of the crimes. During the hearing, Furber noted that the victim had dedicated a substantial part of her life to caring for the defendant. “Despite the care she gave him throughout his life, he repaid her by killing her,” Furber stated. Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan called the sentence a measure of justice for a “harrowing case,” following Ingram’s guilty plea to third-degree murder and multiple related charges. Prosecutors said he confessed after being arrested in Washington, D.C., and investigators later uncovered drugs and cash at the residence.
Joe LeCompte hosts LeCompte in the Morning on WBCB 1490. Bradley Vasoli is the senior editor of The Independence.
