CANFIELD Teachers working without pact

The union's contract expired Aug. 31.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- The school district's 188 teachers and tutors will continue to work without a contract for at least the next three weeks.
The next contract negotiating session between the Canfield Education Association and the school board is set for Dec. 12, which is the next date that a federal mediator assisting with these discussions will be available.
Union President Don George said the tutors and teachers will stay on the job at least until the next negotiating session.
The union and the school board negotiated for five hours late Wednesday and early this morning without reaching an agreement.
The union's last contract with the school board expired Aug. 31.
Face to face helps
Both George and Superintendent Dante Zambrini said much of the negotiating session was face to face, which they said benefited the process.
George said it was "open dialogue" and many issues were put on the table for discussion.
"Each time we meet, we are getting closer," Zambrini said.
Neither Zambrini nor George would say what issues are keeping the union and the school board from reaching an agreement.
About 70 teachers and tutors attended the school board meeting before the negotiations Wednesday wearing red shirts that stated "quality teachers = quality schools." They also carried small signs that said: "We've been fair to the process. Now the process needs to be fair to us."
MeLynda Guerrieri, a fourth-grade teacher at C.H. Campbell Elementary School, stood during the public comment portion of the board meeting and repeated the slogan on the small signs. The 70 teachers and tutors then left the meeting.
Guerrieri is the chairwoman of the union's crisis committee, which was formed to support the negotiating committee. She said the union has been negotiating since last year, when it agreed not to take a raises, except for those garnered through longevity or increases in level of education, during the first school year under the new contract.
Since then there has been little progress in the negotiations, Guerrieri said.
School board member Martha Zarlenga, her voice breaking, said she appreciated the union's attendance at the meeting.
Residents' views
Board President Mark Squicquero noted that the board is considering the views of district residents during the negotiations.
Guerrieri, like George and Zambrini, wouldn't say what issues were being discussed during negotiations.
The Web site of the Ohio Education Association, a statewide teachers union, 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 bachelor's degrees in the Canfield schools were paid $28,469 last school year; teachers with master's degrees 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.
hill@vindy.com