Vote means no teachers strike in Falls

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The district had planned to bring in 46 substitute teachers if a strike occurred.

BY AMANDA GARRETT

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

NEWTON FALLS — There will be no teachers strike in the Newton Falls schools.

A new contract was narrowly accepted this afternoon; teachers union officials would not give a vote total.

Darlene Schaefer, president of the Newton Falls Classroom Teachers' Association, said the vote was "very close." The teachers still don't like the contract but were apprehensive about going on strike, she said.

Schaefer said the teachers want to have regular meetings with the board of education and schools superintendent so the teaching staff can be kept informed and differences can be ironed out.

The union members met for about an hour at the high school auditorium.

They accepted the board's offer of 2.5 percent a year for a two-year contract. They also agreed to a monthly $25 health insurance premium for a single plan and $55 insurance premium for a family plan, as offered by the board.

If the two parties had not come to terms, the 87-member union was scheduled to go on strike at 5 a.m. Thursday. The district had hired 46 substitute teachers and hired security guards for every entrance.

The board and the union had met for several hours Tuesday night without producing a settlement. The teachers union had put forth a new offer, asking for a salary increase of 4.2 percent per year, a reduction from its earlier proposal of 5.2 percent.

Salaries at Newton Falls range from $27,182 for first-year teachers, to $57,082 for teachers with the most seniority.

The union also had sought to keep the insurance premiums at current rates of $20 per month for a single plan and $40 per month for a family plan.

Early retirements will not be encouraged by the school board, the union president said.

The union had suggested the early retirement program in which the district would provide an incentive for teachers to retire early. The board said it rejected this because it "would require the board to pay out large sums of money to buy years of service credit for a teacher to retire early."

The plan would have saved the district money because it would have been hiring new teachers at lower salaries, maintained John Creatura, union field representative for the Ohio Federation of Teachers.

The union contended that its offer would not have cost the district any extra money.

Superintendent David Wilson said the board gave the union its "last best offer" Sept. 12.

"The board did not hold back on anything it was willing and able to agree to and still be good stewards of the public money," he said. "The district's finances have not changed since the last best offer was made. Therefore, the board did not change its earlier offer."

agarrett@vindy.com

Wednesday, September 27, 2006