New Kensington-Arnold teachers union plans rally as contract talks continue

New Kensington-Arnold School District teachers who have been without a contract for 181 days are planning to rally before Tuesday evening’s school board meeting, the Pennsylvania State Education Association said Monday.

The rally is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at Valley High School in New Kensington. The school board meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the school.

The last contract between the district and the 151-member New Kensington-Arnold Education Association expired Aug. 31. In a statement issued Monday, the association said it is urging the board to settle the dispute.

A strike authorization vote will be addressed separately at a later date, said Fritz Fekete, southwestern region advocacy coordinator for the PSEA.

Association President Ashley Pujol said the board’s “final and best offer” would increase teacher health care costs by nearly three-fold.

“Our teachers are exhausted and feel that the board simply refuses to recognize their value and importance,” Pujol said in the statement. “This position by the board clearly indicates their ambivalence toward the heroic efforts our members have made to keep educating our kids over the past 24 months.”

Board member Terry Schrock, the district’s lead negotiator and spokesman, said the board wants to offer a fair salary and competitive benefits while minimizing the impact on taxpayers.

“It is disappointing that the association does not perceive what the board is doing to recognize the value and importance of the teachers,” Schrock said, noting the amount of time the board has invested in meeting with the union. “The board continues to recognize the difficulty teachers are facing each day by providing them with an additional free period to plan and prepare. This period at the end of each day for every teacher provides a total of 22 days of free time to help combat exhaustion, at a time when those days could be used give back to our students to combat learning loss.”

Schrock said the board has tentatively agreed to the union’s salary proposal, which includes yearly raises averaging 3.78% over five years. On health care, he said the board is asking for contributions “that are more in line with existing teachers’ contracts throughout the state.”

Pujol said the association stands ready to discuss “a fair and equitable contract” with the board, and hopes it has the same intention.

“However, our teachers deserve to be treated with respect, and to us respect means a fair and equitable contract, without unneeded concessions,” she said. “We urge the board to consider the value that we provide to the parents and taxpayers of this school district and to agree to a contract that provides our members with the respect that they work so hard to earn.”

In February, the association started a series having teachers address the board at its regular monthly meeting. The union said it is intended to raise awareness of its role in educating students during the covid crisis.

Gina Brestensky, a special education teacher at H.D. Berkey Elementary School, was first during the board’s Feb. 1 meeting.

A teacher from Martin Elementary, the district’s kindergarten school, was expected to address the board next, but has been moved to April because of scheduling issues. Jamie D’Amico, a second grade teacher from Berkey, will address the board Tuesday, Fekete said.