Uniontown Area preps for contract negotiations
Uniontown Area School District is making preparations to begin negotiating for new personnel agreements to replace several contracts that are set to expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
School directors Monday authorized Superintendent Dr. Charles Machesky to act as the chief negotiator for the contract renewal process that will affect six different groups of district employees.
Expiring June 30, 2017, are current agreements between the district and teachers, administrators, the business manager and assistant business manager, security personnel, custodial and maintenance workers, and transportation carriers.
Machesky, who served in the same capacity for the last round of contract negotiations, said the process will start this month with preliminary meetings before “serious negotiations” occur in early 2017.
Machesky said negotiations can be challenging and lengthy, but contracts should be finalized before the start of next school year.
The Uniontown Area Education Association, which represents district teachers, is in the final year of a four-year contract that took more than 13 months of negotiations from 2012 to 2014 and forced teachers to work without a contract for several months.
Machesky said a new contract with the teachers’ union will likely be settled during course of next summer.
Turning to other matters, the school board approved Act 1 of the 2006 Taxpayer Relief Act Resolution, meaning the board cannot raise property taxes above the Act 1 Index set by the state in the 2017-18 fiscal year.
The tax index, set for each district by the state Department of Education, places a maximum on the amount a district can raise taxes. If districts meet certain criteria, they can request to raise taxes above the set limit.
“The vote that the board has just taken limits any tax increases to the index as defined by the (state), which means we can move forward in the budget process,” said Machesky.
By approving Act 1, the board can vote to raise taxes up to, but not exceeding, the index millage rate when it approves its 2017-18 budget next year.
“If any tax increase (is warranted), which at this current time, I don’t see that there’s going to be the need for one, we’d be limited by (the index),” Machesky said.
Uniontown Area has avoided a tax increase for the last seven years, operating at a rate of 14.43 mills.
In other business, the board:
n Granted a five-year tax exemption to Nemacolin Woodlands Inc. for construction of two restroom facilities at a Nemacolin Woodlands Resort golf course under Wharton Township Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance ordinance.
n Accepted the retirement of music teacher Karen Fullmer.
n Added Stephanie Roose to the professional substitute list.
n Named Community Bank as the school district’s primary financial institution.
n Added Nicole DuMay and Joelissa Pishko to the substitute list for secretaries, clerks and aides.
n Approved continuing employment of the following coaches for the 2017-18 school term with compensation to be determined: Greg Peck (head boys varsity soccer); Scott Fitzpatrick (assistant boys varsity soccer); Joseph Everhart (head varsity cross country); Shelly Smith (head varsity volleyball); Winston Shaulis (head middle school soccer); Ronald Hospodavis, (assistant middle school soccer).