NEWTON FALLS School board, unions set more talks

Contracts with both district unions will expire at the end of this month.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NEWTON FALLS -- The board of education, the administration and school employees here are gearing up for two rounds of contract negotiations within the next few weeks.
A limited one-year contract approved with the district's classified employees union expires June 30, as will the contract with teachers, said Superintendent Linda Clapp.
The contract with the 52 members of the Association of Classified Employees -- which represents secretaries, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and others -- expired in June 2002, but employees continued working under the terms of the old agreement while negotiations continued.
"We settled about 21/2 months ago with a temporary, one-year package," Clapp said.
The agreement granted a 4-percent raise to the classified staff, she said. The contract was retroactive to last June, meaning it will expire this month.
Impasse
Board members and union representatives talked for three months last summer before declaring an impasse in September.
A federal mediator was brought in to oversee negotiations. Sticking points in the talks were health-care coverage and salaries.
Board members had hoped to use those contract negotiations as a step in cutting costs to offset an anticipated shortfall in operating funds by the end of next school year.
A contract with the teachers union also expires at the end of this month. Clapp said that about 100 teachers are represented in that union.
Negotiations have not begun on either contract, Clapp said.
slshaulis@vindy.com