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Teachers, board have tentative pact
East Palestine teachers have been working without a contract since June 30.
EAST PALESTINE — The board of education and teachers union representatives have reached a tentative agreement, schools Superintendent Tom Inchak said Wednesday.
Inchak said he could not disclose any specifics until a final contract is adopted by both parties. He said union representatives intend to present the terms of the proposed contract to teachers within the next week. If the teachers vote to approve it, the school board will meet and vote on whether to adopt it, he said.
“Both sides worked together to work out a fair and equitable contract,” Inchak said. “We’re all very glad we were able to do that.”
He said that if all goes as planned, the school board could vote at its next public meeting early next month. The school board typically meets the first Monday of every month, but has not set a date for November’s session.
The teachers have been working without a contract since June 30. Negotiation sessions have been in the hands of federal mediator Mike Franczak since the two sides reached an impasse Aug. 8.
Negotiations continued during an eight-hour session that began around 4 p.m. Tuesday. Inchak said talks wrapped up just after midnight on Tuesday, when the tentative agreement was reached. Inchak has said he cannot disclose what the school district had previously offered the 81 teachers and likewise cannot say what offers the union previously turned down.
Near the close of a school board meeting Monday, Inchak said it’s never been about whether the unionized teachers represented by the East Palestine Education Association deserve more money, but more about the district’s limited funds.
The starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree is now $29,007 annually. The maximum annual salary is $58,000 for a teacher with a master’s degree plus 15 additional credits and 25 years’ experience. Annually, district teachers pay $360 for a single health insurance plan and $840 for a family plan. Each year the district contributes $463 toward an individual health plan and $1,218 per family health plan.
Some 70 teachers gathered at 5:30 p.m. Monday to picket before the 6 o’clock meeting. Those teachers, along with about 100 community members, attended Monday’s school board meeting.
Last week the union issued a press release stating that if significant progress toward a new contract was not achieved at Tuesday’s session, the association would issue a 10-day strike notice. Inchak has said the school district was prepared to fill their posts with qualified substitutes.