Lordstown teachers OK 3-year pact that includes no pay-scale increases

By Ed Runyan

The district plans to devise a system that will pay the teachers additional money based on performance.

LORDSTOWN — Considering the tough economic times in the village and the Valley, Lordstown’s 43 teachers have agreed to a three-year pay-scale freeze in a new three-year contract.

The school board approved the contract Wednesday.

The contract, which begins July 1, does help the teachers with the cost of their health insurance by eliminating the employees’ contribution to the premium.

Eliminating the contribution will cost the district about $30,000 in the first year, said Mark Ferrara, school district treasurer.

The employees are paying an average of about $700 per year toward their health-care cost. The district pays an average of about $9,400 per employee annually for health care.

The teachers will still get step pay increases based on longevity and advanced training, but that amount will be offset by savings resulting from the retirement of two teachers and their replacement with two less-experienced teachers, Ferrara said.

Teachers in the district make between $31,411 and $71,617.

Janette McAndrew, president of the Lordstown Teachers Association, which represents the teachers, said teachers approved the contract proposal in early May because of the job losses in the community and the potential for job losses at the General Motors plant in the village as GM heads for possible bankruptcy protection.

“The board didn’t think they could give us a raise because we’re in Lordstown, and there’s no way to know what’s going to happen” with General Motors, she said.

“The teachers really feel it [job concerns] in the community and in their own families. We’re hoping in three years we’ll get something better than zero,” she said.

Bill Pfahler, Lordstown superintendent, said school administrators will begin talks with the teachers soon to devise an alternative compensation system that could pay the teachers additional money based on performance. He said he didn’t know how much more that might cost.

Pfhahler said the district is in the third year of a 10-year agreement with General Motors that pays the district $350,000 per year in property taxes instead of a fluctuating amount based on valuation.

If GM goes into bankruptcy, that amount could be in jeopardy, he said. Another uncertainty is what might happen with state aid for the district, which will be known in about a month, he said.

The district is still negotiating with its nonteaching union, Local 774 of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees, Pfahler said.

runyan@vindy.com