Newton Falls teachers to resume picketing

By Harold Gwin

Nearly 40 percent of the pupils showed up for class despite the strike.

NEWTON FALLS — Teachers in the Newton Falls Exempted Village School District say they expect to be back on the picket lines Monday.

The 82 members of the Newton Falls Classroom Teachers Association went on strike at 6 a.m. Friday after rejecting a school board offer on a new contract Thursday.

Both schools Superintendent David Wilson and John Creatura, Ohio Federation of Teachers field representative working with the Newton Falls teachers, said negotiations are being controlled by a federal mediator. They are awaiting a call from the mediator to resume negotiations, and Creatura said he doesn’t expect anything to happen before Monday.

Under Ohio law, teachers can strike indefinitely.

Creatura said pickets were to remain around school facilities until about 4 p.m. Friday and then return at 6 a.m. Monday.

Meanwhile, Wilson said efforts are being made to ensure education continues and pupils are safe during the strike.

The district called in 32 substitute teachers, and administrators and classified staff kept things running Friday. The district was still a bit understaffed, Wilson said, noting that 1,470 children — nearly 40 percent of the enrollment — showed up for class. That was higher than expected, and additional substitutes will be called in for Monday, he said.

All extracurricular activities, primarily fall sports, were canceled Friday, although Wilson said that situation will be re-examined early next week.

The coaches, who are not teachers or members of the bargaining unit, are anxious to get things moving again, he said.

The teachers’ previous two-year contract, which provided annual 2.5 percent raises, expired at the end of July, Wilson said. He added the board’s last offer before the strike was a one-year contract with a 2 percent pay increase.

Current minimum and top salaries in the district are $28,559 and $59,974, respectively, Wilson said. The district’s average cost per teacher per year is about $61,300, including salary and all benefits, he said.

Creatura said the board’s offer didn’t really include a guarantee of any raise.

The school board was using last year’s budget figures in negotiations, and it was the teachers’ union that discovered the district will be getting $500,000 more in state subsidy funds than it did last year, Creatura said.

The teachers offered to accept a contract with a pay raise to be determined by how much additional state money the district receives in January, he said, adding the teacher proposal included bringing back high school busing the district eliminated this fall before any raise would be determined.

The board indicated it had plans for those additional funds but did offer a raise of up to 2 percent, provided there would still be additional funds available after January, Creatura said.

The district is also asking teachers to pick up more of their health-care insurance cost than the Trumbull County Health Consortium, of which the district is a member, requires, Creatura said.

Newton Falls teachers have been paying 6 percent of their health-care insurance cost but the consortium reduced the mandatory contribution level to 5 percent this year, he said. The district’s contract proposal wants the teachers to stay at the 6 percent level, he said.

Wilson said the cost of health insurance is $401 a month for single coverage, with teachers picking up $25 of that amount. Family coverage is $1,045 per month and teachers are paying $65 of that.

The superintendent said it is unfortunate the children are caught in the middle of the situation.

“The kids are the victims of this,” he said, noting parents have been calling the district complaining about the situation.

gwin@vindy.com