Dec 5, 2006 By Rebekah Sungala 3 min read

The Albert Gallatin Area School Board entered into a collective bargaining agreement with the Albert Gallatin Education Association, agreeing Monday to a three-year contract beginning Aug. 15, 2007. The Albert Gallatin Education Association represents teachers in the school district.

The school board voted seven to two in favor of the contract, with school board members Janet Swaney and Ed Sutton voting against the agreement.

School board members who voted in favor of entering into the agreement were William Boni, John Gruskowski, Ken Plisko, David Howard, Edward Colebank, John Kopas and Edward Andria.

School district solicitor Lee Price of Andrews & Price Law Firm said the teacher’s union must approve the contract before it becomes official.

In related matters, the school board voted unanimously to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the teacher’s union in regards to health care and wages for extracurricular activities. Price said the memorandum of understanding still allows for negotiations between the school district and the union.

In other business, the school board named Sutton as president and Kopas as vice president for 2007 during the reorganization meeting, held directly before the regular meeting. Howard served previously as president.

The school board also voted to follow the same meeting schedule in 2007.

The board meets at 7 p.m. the third Wednesday of every month, with the work session being held the preceding Monday at 6 p.m. Meetings are held at D. Ferd Swaney Elementary School from January through April, at George J. Plava Elementary School from May through August and at Masontown Elementary School from September through December.

However, the school board voted to hold January’s work session at 6 p.m. Jan. 17 before the regular meeting since that Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and school is not in session.

In unrelated matters, the school board adopted a resolution which states the school district will not raise taxes by more than the Act I Inflationary Index allows, which would be 5 percent of the current tax rate of 11.119 mills.

At 11.119 mills, district landowners pay $111 for every $10,000 in assessed value.

If the school board would choose to increase taxes, according to the resolution passed Monday, the district would only be allowed to increase them by approximately $5 for every $10,000 in assessed value, which would mean landowners would pay $116 for every $10,000 in assessed value.

The school board also:

– Appointed Kopas to a three-year term with the Fayette County Area Vocational-Technical School Joint Operating Committee, formerly held by Gruskowski. The board also reappointed Kopas as the district’s director to the PSBA Legislative Policy Council.

– Agreed to pay bus monitors and substitute cafeteria workers $6.25 an hour effective Jan. 1, 2007, pursuant to the state law regarding the minimum wage increase. Workers currently make $5.15 an hour.

– Accepted the retirement of high school instructor Patricia David effective Dec. 24 and hired Kim LaBarbera as a temporary professional employee to teach chemistry at the high school.

– Hired Jeff Rush as winter conditioning coach at the high school.

– Awarded Kevin Milliken the choral music position at A.G. South Middle School and Susan Hickman the four-hour cafeteria job at the high school.