Contract negotiations continue in three school districts
The school year may begin with new contracts for teachers in at least three local school districts, based on how negotiations continue through this month. Three local school districts – Uniontown Area, Laurel Highlands and Central Greene – have teacher contracts that expire within weeks.
Uniontown Area superintendent Dr. Charles Machesky said the district and the teachers union have worked for months on a new contract, which could be ratified before the start of the school year or before the current pact ends on Sept. 4.
“We’ve had four earlybirds, so some of our contract language is 25 years old, and the education association has been agreeable to bring that language up to date,” he said. “We’ve needed the changes because of No Child Left Behind and other mandates.”
While many issues have been resolved, Machesky said salaries remain the last issue that needs further discussion. He said a contract could be presented to the school board for review at a work session Aug. 16 and the board could approve it at the business meeting scheduled for Aug. 18.
The proposed five-year deal includes raises in each year of the contract and makes changes to the district’s health insurance coverage, but Machesky said the new health plan “will provide health care equivalent of or better than what we have now.”
Discussion has also included adding days to the work year for increased staff development activities, he said.
At Laurel Highlands, school board member James F. Burns, a member of the district negotiation team, said the district will meet with Laurel Highlands Education Association representatives on Monday to go over some proposed contract language changes and hopefully finalize them at that time.
“Our plan is to present this contract to the board at the meeting August 16 and I believe the teachers association will meet that same night,” Burns said. “This contract was professionally done with both sides giving and taking, and that usually results in a good contract.”
The district is also in negotiations with its educational support personnel. Superintendent Dr. Ronald Sheba was out of the office Friday and could not be reached for comment.
Dr. Jerome Bartley, Central Greene superintendent, confirmed negotiations are ongoing with the Central Greene Education Association in an attempt to reach a new contract. Central Greene’s current pact with the teachers union expires Aug. 31.
He declined to comment further on the district’s negotiations.
Negotiations are also ongoing between the administration of the Fayette County Area Vocational-Technical School and its teachers union, whose contract expires Aug. 31. John Fibbi, school director, did not return calls seeking comment Friday afternoon.