School board OKs pact with classified union

The schools superintendent said a retire-rehire program will save the district money.
AUSTINTOWN -- The school district has a new two-year contract with its classified employees.
The school board passed the contract unanimously at a meeting Thursday, said Superintendent Douglas Heuer.
Heuer said members of Ohio Association of Public School Employees will get a 2 percent raise the first year of the contract and a 2.5 percent raise in the second year.
He said employees will pay part of their health care and will pay a 50 percent increase in their co-pay for prescriptions.
Heuer also said that a retire-rehire agreement with the union will save the district money.
How that works
Employees who retire and come back to work under the program start at their lowest pay level and don't receive benefits. They have two limited one-year contracts, he said. An agreement with the teachers that accompanied their new contract, which passed in August, is similar. Heuer said the district isn't sure yet how many employees will take advantage of the program, so he can't say how much of a savings there will be.
Heuer said the district is also going to clarify and simplify the way employees are called out to substitute at other jobs in the district, reducing overtime by making sure more employees substitute so that a few employees aren't getting more hours.
He also said the union agreed to reduce the number of personal days from four -- one personal and three emergency days -- under the old contract to three personal days.
The union includes bus drivers, secretaries, bus mechanics, custodians, sweeper-cleaners, teacher aides and kitchen staff.