Crestwood School District agrees to contract with teachers

WRIGHT TWP. — The Crestwood Area School Board voted 8-0 Thursday night to accept a tentative agreement with the Crestwood Education Association on a contract that has been under negotiation since November 2014.

Gene Mancini, school director and chairman of the board’s negotiating team, said “a confirmation and handshake” on the proposed deal was exchanged with representatives of the CEA on Wednesday night.

“However, we’re not making any public comment on details at this time,” he added.

For her part, Caroline Boone, an elementary teacher at the Fairview school and chairperson of the CEA, said her six-member team was in accordance with what Mancini announced and the tentative pact will be presented to the 170-member CEA for ratification.

Boone also declined to disclose details of the contract, although Boone did concede that co-payments on health insurance was a major issue.

“We never negotiate for anything less than three to five years,” she added, commenting on the length of the contract. Prior to 2014, the CEA and board had a five-year pact.

Boone added terms will have to be submitted to the Pennsylvania State Education Association in Harrisburg before an official ratification vote by CEA members can be taken. Boone estimated that vote could occur by the last week in October.

Besides the CEA, Crestwood is still into discussions with the support staff, who include cafeteria workers, maintenance people and teacher aides.

In September the school board filed an unfair labor practice charge against the support staff because of failure by the union to negotiate. On the heels of that action, Rosemary Sturgeon, chairperson of the union, said there has been little progress although Sturgeon did add that a meeting with a state mediator William Gross in attendance has been scheduled for Nov. 3.

Beyond labor issues, the Jerry Orloski, board chairman, stated that the search committee assigned with the task of finding a successor to Dave McLaughlin-Smith, superintendent, had two interview sessions earlier this month with an unspecified number of applicants. McLaughlin-Smith is scheduled to retire in January.

In another response to public reports on Crestwood’s scholastic achievement, Brian Waite, assistant to the superintendent, presented a detailed video summary in which he pointed out that Crestwood students at both a secondary and elementary level rank superior in state achievement test scores than their colleagues in 12 Luzerne County and 21 Lackawanna County school districts.

Waite summarized that his findings show Crestwood students have consistently scored above state averages in math and English and overall, he said, 80 percent of Crestwood graduates go on to college. Waite added that the administration remains dedicated to offering “Quality academic programs.”

In financial matters, the board approved payments to: