CANFIELD SCHOOLS Teachers to work without contract

School and union officials wouldn't discuss details about negotiations.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- Teachers and tutors in the Canfield school district are set to start classes without a contract.
The contract between the district and the Canfield Education Association, the union that represents 188 teachers and tutors, expires today. School starts Tuesday.
Union president Don George said teachers and tutors will be at school on Tuesday working under the expired contract.
When asked about the possibility of a teachers strike, George responded, "I don't see one. I never want to be in one."
The union and school officials have been negotiating for several months. On Aug. 22, the two groups held their first meeting with a federal mediator to discuss contract issues.
Mediator
Superintendent Dante Zambrini said one of the two groups felt negotiations had reached an impasse and requested the mediator. He wouldn't say which group requested the mediator.
Neither Zambrini nor George would say what issues are at the center of negotiations. Zambrini said, however, that the two parties reached an agreement on some of the issues Aug. 22.
School officials and the union have scheduled two meetings with the mediator in September, he said.
George noted that the union has agreed not to take a raise in addition to raises for longevity and level of education during the first school year under the new contract. Teachers received a 4-percent raise last school year and 3-percent raises in both 2000-01 and 2001-02 in addition to raises for longevity and level of education.
State law says the school board must use experience and level of education to determine salary.
Without an additional raise, the school district will still have to pay about $200,000 more for salaries in the first school year of the contract because of raises for longevity and level of education.
The union had said it would not seek an additional raise this school year if voters approved a 6.9-mill, five-year additional operating levy for the district last fall. The levy was approved by about 400 votes and produces about $3 million for the district annually.
"That was our bargain with the public," George said. "That's a promise we plan to keep."
Average salary
The Ohio Education Association Internet site shows that the average salary for Canfield teachers last school year was $49,216, fourth-highest in Mahoning County. The average salary for teachers was higher at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center and in the Boardman and Poland school districts.
First-year teachers with a bachelor's degree in the Canfield schools were paid $28,469 last school year; teachers with a master's degree and at least 27 years of experience were paid $57,507. First-year tutors were paid $14.22 per hour; tutors with at least five years of experience were paid $19.39 per hour.
Teachers and tutors in the union can receive medical, dental, prescription, drug and vision insurance through the district. Union members pay 5 percent of the premiums for the insurance; the district pays the remaining 95 percent.
The Canfield school district was one of six districts in the county to receive an "excellent" ranking from the state based on 2001-02 school year proficiency tests and other data.
George said he isn't sure when the union and school officials might reach a contract agreement, as continued negotiations depend on the availability of the federal mediator.
hill@vindy.com