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REA rejects Ringgold School District’s latest offer

By Mark Soroka for The 3 min read

NEW EAGLE – Ringgold teachers are continuing their walkout, despite a 3.1 percent salary increase offer by the Ringgold School District.

On Wednesday, the Ringgold Education Association (REA) met with the district during a special negotiation session. However, talks ended without any movement toward a new contract.

According to a school board negotiation update, the district is offering REA $379,758 in total new money for 2017-18. The salary schedule reflects average salary increases of 3.1 percent each year of the contract, showing an overall increase of 15.5 percent over a five-year period. The district maintains that their most recent offer of 3.1 percent is on par with the statewide average.

The update also noted that REA’s latest offer is $685,465- a 5.42 percent increase. The state’s Act 1 Index prevents the school district from raising taxes more than $600,000.

“The union provided us with some information, trying to give us a rationale for their position,” said School Board President William Stein Jr. “We exchanged some conceptual ideas that could not be quantified by the union until our next meeting on Monday.”

A timeline released by Ringgold said: “The District has bargained consistently in good faith modifying its salary and healthcare proposals to further minimize the impact on district teachers. Despite the Association stating that they are bargaining in good faith, they place items back on the table that they have withdrawn a few days prior, trying to leverage their position on salary.”

REA President Maria Degnan contends that the issue is not whether Ringgold School District has the money to give the teachers a pay raise; the issue is how Ringgold chooses to spend its money.

“Unfortunately, the district chooses to spend its money on other things, instead of the teachers,” she said. “Raising taxes isn’t the only way to fund the teachers’ salaries. The district knew about the salary schedule when they bargained a new contract four years ago. They clearly didn’t budget their money appropriately to fund the salary schedule. We still have some of the lowest salaries around.”

Degnan made it clear that REA is not happy with the current offer.

“We made a point from the beginning not to accept additional steps. We aren’t going to allow them to devalue our salary schedule. To us, it seems like a stall tactic,” she said.

Stein remains hopeful that a settlement can be reached soon.

“While significant difference remain in our positions, we remain committed to getting this done,” he said. “Unfortunately, the teachers felt they could not yet return to work.”

Negotiations will resume on Nov. 13. Another negotiation session has also been scheduled for Nov. 20. REA is holding a town hall meeting tonight at the New Eagle Volunteer Firemens Recreation Hall.

Per the requirements of Act 88, the law governing public-sector collective bargaining in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Department of Education has issued a return-to-work-order for Nov. 21, 2017. Ringgold’s 210 teachers have been on strike since Oct. 18.

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