Brookfield moves to obey busing order

The teacher’s union and board recently reached agreement on a retroactive three-year contract.

STAFF REPORT

BROOKFIELD — Tim Filipovich, Brookfield school board president since January, says the school board will do whatever it takes to resolve the legal matter involving students who want busing to two Warren-area Catholic schools as soon as possible.

Filipovich added that with the school board working cooperatively with the parents who brought the legal action, “there’s a better chance of resolution.”

The 7th District Court of Appeals ruled the district must provide busing to schoolchildren who attend Catholic schools in the Warren area.

He said discussions he has had with Stephen Stohla, Brookfield superintendent, suggest that the students will receive their Brookfield busing for the rest of this school year, but he doesn’t know when that will begin.

The school board has been involved in several legal matters in recent years, arising after Joseph Pasquerella was elected to the school board on a platform of cost-cutting.

The teacher’s union objected to the tactics employed by Pasquerella and fellow board members who agreed with him.

That changed in February, when board member Steve Varga resigned, and Kelly Bianco was appointed to fill the vacancy, said Sallie Schneider, president of the Brookfield Federation of Teachers.

With the composition of the board changed, Pasquerella’s power has diminished, Schneider added.

Pasquerella agrees that is true. He recently said he no longer influences decision making because he lost his “majority” on the board.

For instance, the board recently hired a different law firm, despite Pasquerella’s objections. The measured passed 4-1, Pasquerella said.

In recent weeks, the teacher’s union reached an agreement with the board on a retroactive three-year contract that restores wages to the level before Pasquerella arrived on the board, Schneider said.

That contract expires in July, however, so negotiations will resume this summer on another contract, she said.

Meanwhile, two other pending legal matters are also likely to be resolved soon as a result of the union and board finding more common ground in recent months and negotiating resolutions to the disputes, Schneider said.

“We’ve worked well together,” she said.

As for Filipovich, he hopes legal arguments will soon become a thing of the past in Brookfield.

“To me, it’s a lose-lose situation as long as we continue to fight,” he said of the relationship between the board and the district’s employees.