SB 5 jeopardizes provisions of Poland teachers’ contract

By ROBERT GUTTERSOHN

rguttersohn@vindy.com

POLAND

Both Poland schools Superintendent Robert Zorn and the district’s teacher union hope to avoid another round of contract negotiations later in the summer.

To ensure this, the Poland Education Association believes the effective date on the two-year contract must be changed to the date it was ratified by the board, March 28. The PEA fears if the contract has an effective date of Sept. 1, state law may nix their contract under state Senate Bill 5, which becomes effective July 1.

“Basically, what we’ve been told now is that contracts that are not in effect before June 30, they could be null and void,” said Ron Rowe, president of PEA.

In March, the union agreed to a two-year wage and step freeze but locked in 5 percent medical co-pay for the next two years. But under SB5, public workers are required to pay a minimum 15 percent co-pay.

Zorn informed the board of education in a letter that it may want to amend the effective dates of the contracts. If not, he wrote it could “jeopardize the agreement.”

But according to Ohio School Boards Association attorney Van Keating, the union is “hedging their bets.”

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com