AUSTINTOWN Union criticizes Creatore

Creatore did use the word 'abuse,' but says he didn't mean to accuse all employees.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- The president of the teachers union had harsh words for school board president Michael Creatore over what the union believes are lies he told about an interview on a radio talk show.
Sandra DeCerbo said Monday at the board's meeting that a transcript of the Jan. 25 Ron Verb show proves Creatore lied when he said at a Feb. 1 school board meeting that he didn't use the word "abuse" when he was talking to Verb about district employee sick time.
Teachers and others at that meeting insisted Creatore had stepped way out of line by insinuating that teachers were abusing their sick leave.
Creatore responded then that the comment he made was about a review of sick days, not abuse of them.
Creatore was on the a.m. talk show on WKBN 570 to discuss saving the school district money and the State of the Schools meeting that was to occur that night at Fitch High School.
Quotable
"There's a lot of areas we're looking at, and I've got to be honest with you, there's one area that's really haunting me and that's the abuse of sick time, and that's my next victim," Creatore is quoted in the transcript.
"As professional educators, we vigorously object to being falsely labeled 'abusers' and an ongoing diatribe against the Austintown teaching staff by Mr. Creatore," DeCerbo said Monday. She also said he should check his facts before speaking. District Treasurer Barb Kliner said at the Feb. 1 meeting that an analysis of employee sick time showed nothing unusual, and that spikes in sick-day use could be traced to legitimate reasons.
DeCerbo said Creatore should be honest and accountable for what he says.
James Murphy, who teaches science at Fitch, complained that he has "seen things in The Vindicator and heard on Ron Verb" that the district is going to be $1.2 million in debt next year "because we took our raise."
He said that after taxes and paying for health care, the 2 percent teachers raise this year will amount to $75. Next year, with increased health care costs, the teachers will lose $50, even with their 2.5 percent raise, he said.
"We want things reported as they are," Murphy said. "Not under their breath, not in the paper: 'It's those teachers who've ruined us.'"
Creatore was the lone no vote against the teachers contract in August.
Jan Nelson, who also teaches at Fitch, said teachers aren't objecting to a review of sick leave, but object to the word "abuse."
"It's not the issue. It's the words that are chosen," she said.
Creatore responded that he didn't mean to indict all employees, but he was thinking of one case in which an employee was abusing sick time. The district recently let that employee go, he said.
"Besides, it wasn't more in the teaching area," he said. "It was more in the classified [employees] area."
Creatore said it wasn't all his idea to review sick leave -- that he had "numerous complaints."
After the meeting, he said he'd had complaints from administrators. He said he's had time to review Kliner's report, and "on average" he agrees with her that there's nothing unusual about sick-time use. He said there may be more specific cases of abuse.
Creatore said that he thinks the relationship between him and the teachers is strained, but they will be able to get past that.
Other action
In other business, the board accepted the retirement of Gerald Reedy, a high school science teacher who is charged with sexual battery over a relationship with a 17-year-old student. Reedy, now on paid leave, will retire as of March 6. He was with the district 33 years. Reedy was on track to make $61,487 this year. He will collect about $50,000 a year in his pension, according to figures provided by Kliner, the district payroll office and the state.