WESTERN PA. SCHOOLS Talks continuing as teachers keep working
One school board official says the state should pick up teacher health-care costs.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- School has been back in session for two months, but some teachers in Mercer County are still working without contracts.
Teachers in Farrell, West Middlesex and Sharpsville all have agreed to continue working under extensions of their old agreements while negotiations continue, said Barb Henning, Pennsylvania State Education Association representative for Mercer County.
Teachers in neighboring Lawrence County all have contracts in place for the 2003-04 school year, which began July 1.
"Everything's going along," Henning said of the Mercer County talks, noting they are "down to the hard issues" such as salaries and health care.
There has been no talk of strike in any of the districts, she said.
On hold
Richard Rubano, superintendent of the 1,023-pupil Farrell Area School District, said both sides have agreed to put their negotiations on hold to await finalization of a Pennsylvania state budget, which should have been in place July 1.
The district wants to see how the state intends to finance education this year, he said. Talks there have been "very amicable," Rubano said.
Farrell has 95 teachers.
Talks are "slow" in the West Middlesex Area School District, said Thomas Hubert, school board president.
The two sides are working on the same old issues of health care and wages, "but the tone has been good," he said.
Hubert said talks haven't reached a stalemate, noting that the two sides continue to exchange ideas on how a new contract can be structured.
Retiree health care is a major concern for the board, he said, pointing out that West Middlesex pays 100 percent of a retiree's health care insurance until he or she reaches age 65.
Some teachers retire at 55 and the district covers their premium costs for 10 years, he said, noting the district has 24 retirees receiving those benefits now. It will cost West Middlesex $1 million to cover their costs until age 65, he said, adding that the number of retirees could jump to 34 next year.
Universal package
Hubert said he would like to see the state come up with a universal health-care package for all teachers, much as is done for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation employees and other state agencies.
That would ease the burden on local school districts that are paying more each year for health care, he said, adding, "We're raising taxes for a problem that isn't being fixed."
West Middlesex, with 1,200 pupils and 78 teachers, is paying just over $1 million a year for employee health care, Hubert said.
"We're just plodding along. Things are proceeding as they should," said David DeForest, chief negotiator for the Sharpsville Area School Board.
"The conversations have been amicable," he said, noting that health care is a big issue in Sharpsville as well.
The district has 82 teachers and 1,350 pupils.
Henning said the PSEA also represents about 100 members of the Hermitage Educational Support Staff Association in the Hermitage School District, which is negotiating a new contract to replace one that expired June 30.
The support staff includes aides and maintenance and cafeteria workers.
Hermitage officials said the two sides recently agreed to an extension of the terms of the old contract while negotiations continue.
Hermitage has 2,300 pupils.