Negotiation for USD 235 teachers' contracts at standstill

A fact finder will be called to help with negotiations between the Uniontown School Board and the Uniontown Teachers' Association.

On Monday, Sept. 12, the Uniontown USD 235 Board of Education discussed negotiations during an executive session.

"As of tonight the teachers association has elected to not accept our offer," Board President Jason Sutterby said after the regular board meeting.

He said he would not provide which specific issues are involved at this time.

"The teachers have not decided to accept our proposal on several issues at this point," Sutterby said.

He said the fact-finding, which will be scheduled in about a month, will be open to the public.

Sutterby said the board is receiving assistance from Lorie Church, an attorney with the KASB.

"This is not common," Sutterby said. "It is somewhat unexpected by us, to a point. We would have liked to reach something by now."

Currently, teachers are working under their 2015-16 contracts, which Sutterby said is typical when negotiations go beyond the June 30 deadline for having contracts in place.

Sutterby, along with Matthew Simpson, are representatives of the district's negotiation team. Sutterby became the lead negotiator after Daniel Johns resigned from the school board.

Jackie Hall is the president of the UTA. Other members of the UTA team are Tammy Townsend and Sarah Jackman.

Hall provided an email statement to The Tribune.

"Bargaining has been uncharacteristically contentious this summer and we have started the new school year without a contract," Hall wrote. "The association team met with the board in bargaining sessions throughout the summer without success. We also had two sessions with the board and a federal mediator from Kansas City last month, but still no agreement.

"There was agreement on a handful of topics, but there are still three unresolved issues. Two of them involve accurate placement on the teacher salary schedule. The salary schedule is a grid with step and columns that give small raises called steps for each year of experience. There are also additional columns with raises for graduate and educational classwork. A beginning teacher starts at the top on Step 1 and moves through the schedule over their career.

"The first issue is that longtime teachers were held "on step" for three years between the years 2009-2012. They have been three steps behind since. We were assured that when times improved, those back steps would be caught up. We believe that should occur this year. The board has agreed to catch up one of the back steps; we want all three for those that are still on staff and have steps available.

"The second issue involves accurate placement of some more recently hired teachers. We would emphasize these were done by the previous superintendent, but the problem remains and we haven't found a solution yet. It's actually placing some people far higher on the schedule than their actual experience or coursework dictate. These discrepancies just came to light this summer. Combined with the lost steps in the first issue, we have a serious situation.

"The third issue is to include a fair dismissal procedure in the agreement like the vast majority of Southeast Kansas districts. It provides a fast and fair process to remove an experienced teacher that is not performing up to standard while providing protections against unfair or petty actions. We have offered language exactly like adopted in those districts, but the Board has refused to include it in their final offer.

"The teachers voted overwhelming to proceed to fact finding. We will ask the state for a list of potential hearing officers from which we will jointly decide who will come to Uniontown to hear these facts and make a recommendation that might guide us to an agreement.

"In the meantime, according to state law, we work under last year's contract."