The South Butler School Board and Teacher’s Association continue to hold negotiation sessions however there continues to be several areas of disagreement.
Solicitor for the South Butler School Board, Attorney Tom Breth, was a participant in Thursday night’s negotiation session and told our newsroom “The parties are continuing to discuss the issues. I don’t know if I would say progress is being made. The board is trying very hard to find common ground. The board has modified its position on wages and healthcare and fully explained its modifications and why its making the modifications and how those modifications are in an effort to try to address concerns raised by the teachers.”
Breth said that the board is looking forward to a formal, written response to their latest proposal which included modifications to proposed wages, healthcare, and involuntary transfers.
According to Brooke Witt of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the board is asking for concessions out of line with what other districts in the area are doing. Beyond that, there are other aspects of the board’s latest proposal that teachers cannot agree with.
“At this point we aren’t any closer to settling a contract than we were three years ago when we started this. The district’s proposal from last night included a three year wage freeze with money to be put in a healthcare savings account to basically account for the raise. The teachers aren’t interested in a three year wage freeze. We feel that their position has been unrealistic all along,” Witt explained.
The next negotiation session between the South Butler Board and teachers union is scheduled for February 15th.
Written by Ryan Saeler