Fairview Park City Schools teachers reach new contract with district

Community NewsFairview High School. (John Benson/cleveland.com)John Benson/cleveland.comBy John Benson, special to cleveland.comFAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio -- After a somewhat contentious negotiation, the Fairview Park City Schools and the Fairview Park Education Association (FPEA) have reached a new collective bargaining agreement.“Negotiations were lengthy and at times challenging,” Fairview Park City Schools Superintendent Keith Ahearn said. “Both sides advocated for their priorities, but ultimately we were able to find common ground and reach an agreement that is fair to our teachers, responsible to our taxpayers and sustainable for the district.” The new three-year agreement includes a 3% annual salary increase, plus eligible step and column movement.In terms of health insurance, there’s no increase in employees’ share of health or dental premiums.“From the district standpoint, the agreement provides competitive compensation for our teachers with no changes to health insurance,” he said. The deal also includes severance increases from 1/4 to 1/3 of accumulated sick leave, with expanded leave provisions and increased incentives for unused sick and personal leave. Other highlights of the contract include resident educator mentor stipends increasing to $1,500, establishing quarterly evaluation committee meetings, College Credit Plus professional development and 6-12 teachers with five or more preps are exempt from duties. “The decision to settle the negotiation process and accept this agreement -- one without any meaningful progress on issues with class sizes and adequate prep time to fully meet students’ needs -- was not made lightly,” FPEA spokesperson Megan Frenz said in a press release. “But our priority has always been, and will continue to be, ensuring that our students are not negatively impacted. “After careful consideration, we believe it is necessary to accept this agreement to allow us to move forward with that priority at the forefront.”During the negotiations, FPEA brought up accountability and transparency issues. “Accountability and transparency were discussed during negotiations, and we worked through those concerns with a focus on reaching an agreement,” Ahearn said. Frenz said, “While this negotiation process has concluded, our fight continues to provide the learning conditions our students need.“We will continue to use every avenue and tool available to us to advocate for the best educational experience possible for Fairview Park students.”Read more news from the Sun Post Herald here.