New Kensington-Arnold teachers to highlight educators' efforts during covid

The New Kensington-Arnold teachers union plans to give presentations at school board meetings over the next four months to create public awareness of its role in educating students during the covid crisis, a representative of the statewide union said Monday.

The New Kensington-Arnold Education Association will highlight the efforts of its members at each of the district’s four buildings over the next four monthly board meetings, said Fritz Fekete, region advocacy coordinator for the Pennsylvania State Education Association in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Teachers from H.D. Berkey Elementary School in Arnold are expected to go first during the public comment section of the board’s Tuesday meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the board room at Valley High School and also available on Zoom.

Berkey houses the district’s first and second grade students.

For the 2021-22 school year, New Kensington-Arnold has had 158 covid positive cases reported among students and 48 among adults, according to the district’s covid dashboard on Monday. Of those, 20 students and six adults have been at Berkey.

“The presentation will highlight the many efforts that teachers at Berkey have made in ensuring pupils continue to get a great education during the past months of this most recent covid wave,” Fekete said.

Superintendent Chris Sefcheck said he had been unaware of the union’s plans.

Teachers from Martin Elementary are scheduled to speak at the March 1 board meeting; from Roy A. Hunt Elementary on April 5; and Valley Junior-Senior High School on May 3, said Ashley Pujol, president of the New Kensington-Arnold association.

The presentations are coming as the union and district remain in contract negotiations.

“It’s important to highlight what our members are doing every day, day in and day out, while we continue to strive for the fair and equitable contract,” Pujol said. “We’re hopeful this will bring some awareness of the great professional staff that New Kensington-Arnold School District has.”

New Kensington-Arnold teachers have been working without a current contract since their last four-year agreement expired in 2021.

Fekete said negotiators for the district and union are next scheduled to meet on Feb. 24.

“NKAEA continues to negotiate for a fair and equitable successor contract,” he said. “Our efforts to create awareness of the many ways NKAEA members foster excellence in education despite the many challenges they face — particularly during this past 23 months — are ongoing.”

School board member Terry Schrock, the district’s lead negotiator and spokesman, said the sides are close to a settlement.

“We are pleased by the work both sides have put in moving toward a contact that is fair to the teachers, equitable to the taxpayers, and affordable to the district,” he said. “We are encouraged that we are close to a settlement and are confident that neither side would try to posture at the 11th hour in such a way as to derail all that has been accomplished thus far.”