Board, teachers union resolve charter concerns

A state fiscal oversight
commission must give its approval to the agreement.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Any drop in student enrollment at the charter school sponsored by the city school district won’t translate into a reduction in teaching positions within the district.

That’s the crux of a memorandum of understanding between the city school board and the Youngstown Education Association, the union representing some 650 teachers.

The union president signed the agreement in June, but the school board didn’t act until Tuesday.

The memorandum still must get the approval of the state Financial Planning and Supervision Commission, which is overseeing district contracts and finances while Youngstown remains under state fiscal emergency.

The memorandum ends a grievance and possible legal action by the YEA over the launching of the Mahoning Valley Opportunity Center in fall 2006.

The school district sponsored the charter school, which targets older students who have earned only a few credits toward graduation and are more inclined to drop out of school than earn a diploma.

The school, located in Mill Creek Community Center on Glenwood Avenue, has 130 students in grades nine through 12 this fall. All are from Mahoning County.

Will Bagnola, YEA president, said the union’s chief concern was that sending Youngstown kids to the charter school would decrease jobs for city school teachers.

Background

The YEA filed a grievance in January 2006 saying the district violated the teacher contract by sponsoring a charter school that would provide services that are being provided by, or may be provided by, current employees.

The union also said teaching positions in the new school should be posted within the bargaining unit.

The school district has maintained that the charter school is essentially a separate entity, and its employees are not employees of the Youngstown city schools. Its teachers also are not YEA members.

The memorandum spells out that there will be no reduction in force among city school teachers based solely on decreased enrollment of city children enrolled in the charter school.

In return, the YEA withdrew its grievance and did not file a lawsuit over the issue.

Should the oversight commission fail to ratify the memorandum, however, the union has the right to reinstate the grievance and file a lawsuit.

gwin@vindy.com