The Strongsville School District is poised to start negotiations with the Strongsville Education Association for a new contract for teachers.
Assistant Superintendent John Krupinski said two groups are now scheduling the first meeting, "possibly as early as the beginning of next month."
Teachers will start the school year without a contract in place. The existing two-year pact -- accepted in March 2011 after a grueling nine months of negotiations -- expired June 30.
Krupinski said he cannot predict how the new round of talks will go.
"Sometimes it just happens," he said. "Other times, it takes longer."
The timing of a new contract could have an impact, though, on an $81 million bond issue on the Nov. 6 ballot. Krupinski acknowledged that some voters want to know the outcome of the contract talks before deciding whether to support the bond issue, which would be used to build a new middle school and make improvements at Strongsville High School and the elementary schools.
He said the thrust of the campaign for the issue will be to make sure voters know the difference between a levy and a bond issue.
"One of our goals is to clearly communicate that this goes to buildings, not to salaries and benefits," Krupinski said. "I think it's critical people know that."
In the last contract, finalized in March 2011, teachers accepted a salary freeze and agreed to eliminate step pay increases for the 2011-12 school year.
The deal saved the district about $2 million, officials said. It also called for teachers to take on extra duties during the school day and to contribute more to their health insurance costs.
The contract was retroactive to Aug. 1, 2010, and expired June 30, 2012.
Krupinski said the district typically negotiates two-year deals, but said there have also been one-year and three-year contracts.
lyn
9:27 pm on Thursday, July 26, 2012
If the contract expired June 30, why haven't they been in negotiations for AT LEAST the past month? Are they only dealing with one issue at a time - first the new middle school going to a ballot without knowing where, then the contract?
Also, it would be nice if they were to have the transparency that Brecksville had - both sides contract proposals were made public, although to the dismay of the teachers and their union.
TSW
11:19 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
I asked former Treasurer same question in early June about Strongsville putting their teacher/BOE contract updates/issues on line a la Brecksville. I got lame excuse about contract talks being "private" and lack of available resources/$ to dedicate to putting up dedicated website. What a crock !
I hope long overdue significant cost issues (ie pension pick ups and fair share health care employee contributions ) are finally properly addressed. These two items have been costing taxpayers MILLIONS of dollars annually for many years.
TSWood
lyn
6:15 am on Thursday, August 2, 2012
They could probably check with the attorney they used last time because I think Its the same one that Brecksville is now using. I think Brecksville only revealed the original proposals, so why not at least show us that - no discussions have begun yet. Anyway, we are the taxpayers, paying these salaries. Show us.
But, from what I have read, Strongsville's Board leans more towards teacher interests than taxpayer, parent and student - that being, they will give to the teachers, taxpayers will have to pay up, and kids and parents will continue to sacrifice to enable the Board to give the teachers what they feel they are entitled to.
lyn
6:22 am on Thursday, August 2, 2012
And, regarding a website - Brecksville has their proposals on the district website, under negotiation news.