Teachers accept district’s latest offer

Bashore: The public should know tentative terms of the agreement

By Micaiah Wise Bilger, Sentinel reporter, mwise@lewistownsentinel.com
MIFFLINTOWN — The Juniata County Education Association voted Tuesday evening to approve a tentative contract with the Juniata County School District, and one school board member was willing to discuss the terms despite an ongoing media blackout.

Union President Wayne Chrismer said the vote was made during a committee of the whole meeting, in which 83 teachers voted to accept the tentative agreement and 63 voted to reject it. Chrismer said the union members were asked: “Do you accept or reject the tentative agreement for the basis of a new contract?”

The Juniata County Board of Directors will vote on the contract during a public meeting at 7 p.m. Friday at Fermanagh-Mifflintown Elementary School, in Mifflintown.

“Everything now rests in the hands of those citizens,” Chrismer said, referring to the school board.

School Board President Gary Zeiders said he would provide no comment about the negotiations until Friday. Throughout the negotiations, information about the terms of the tentative agreement were unavailable due to a media blackout called earlier this spring by state mediator William Buckley and agreed upon by both parties.

However, school board member Ralph Bashore said Tuesday he does not agree with the media blackout and that he believes the public should know the terms of the tentative agreement.

Bashore said the agreement is for two years and includes 3.99 percent salary increases for each year, as well as health insurance co-pays starting at $13.50 for the first year and $20 for the second year.

“It’s time the public knows the bill they have to pay,” Bashore said.

School board member John Noss said he has not yet seen the tentative agreement and could not comment.

Noss said he was told that the school board members will receive the terms of the tentative agreement on Friday evening. An executive session is scheduled before the public meeting.

“The way things are with the economy, we can’t give any big pay raises out,” Noss said.

Superintendent Kenneth Albaugh said he was encouraged by the teachers’ vote of acceptance.

“In my opinion, it was a difficult decision. Both (parties) spent a year and countless hours ... working for this,” Albaugh said.

Albaugh said he hopes the school board will recognize its negotiating team’s efforts.

The negotiation teams reached the tentative agreement Saturday, less than 48 hours before a teacher’s strike was scheduled to begin on Monday.

The union and school board have negotiated the contract since the previous contract expired on June 30, 2007. The primary issues that remained unsettled between the two sides include salary and health care benefits.

Last year, union members agreed to continue working under the terms of the previous contract until both sides agreed to a new one.