Norwin board OKs 6-year teacher contract; pay hikes average 3%

Norwin’s teachers will enjoy wage hikes averaging 3% for this school year and the next five school years under the terms of a six-year agreement that both the teachers and the Norwin School Board approved on Monday.

The board voted 8-0 to approve a contract with the Norwin Education Association that Director Donald Rhodes, one of the board negotiators, said he felt “it is a fair contract for both sides.”

Board president Brian Carlton, whose wife is a teacher in the district, left the meeting prior to the vote on the contract.

Director Darlene Ciocca, who is often a critic of district expenditures, said after the meeting she also believes the agreement is fair to both sides.

Ryan Lynn, a teacher at Hillcrest Intermediate School, declined to comment on the contract after the school board’s approval.

Teachers will be able to “proceed with confidence” providing students with a top-notch educational experience, Lynn said in a statement released by the district.

The union represents about 320 teachers, guidance counselors and school nurses. The new contract replaces a five-year agreement that expired on Aug. 31. Teachers have remained on the job since classes began on Sept. 8.

Under questioning from Director Robert Wayman, director of finance and operations Ryan Kirsch could not predict whether the cost of the contract would cause the district to raise real estate taxes. Kirsch said there are factors to consider, such as the amount of aid the state will receive in the future.

Neither Superintendent Jeff Taylor nor board members revealed whether the tentative agreement with the teachers union was reached before the Nov. 2 election, in which three conservative Republicans were elected to the board. Taylor pointed out that negotiations began in January.

The tentative agreement was listed on the Nov. 8 board meeting agenda to be voted upon by the school board on Nov. 15.

Two directors with family members serving as teachers voted for the agreement, but that was not a violation of any state ethics regulations, said Russell Lucas, district solicitor. Director William Essay, whose wife is a Norwin teacher, and Director Patrick Lynn, whose brother Ryan is the head of the Norwin Education Association, both voted for the agreement. The state Ethics Commission has ruled that a board member is not violating any ethic rules if the relative receiving the pay hike is part of a class of employees receiving the same benefit, Lucas said.

Several members of the audience in the meeting questioned why the current school board, which is losing three members — Donald Rhodes and Tony Corsa, who did not seek another term on the board, and Carlton lost his bid for re-election — would not wait to let the new school board vote on the pact when members take= office in December.

By ratifying the teachers contract now, Ciocca said the new board does not have to deal with the issue that the current board has been negotiating since January.

If the board did not ratify the agreement the teachers union had approved Monday night in a separate meeting, Rhodes said they would have had to go back to the drawing board to negotiate a new pact.

“You throw it (tentative pact) in the trash can and start over,” Rhodes said.

The contract will be available for public view once the school board and teachers union sign the official agreement, which likely will be in a few days, Lucas said.