SHEFFIELD — The Sheffield/Sheffield Lake school board passed a resolution Monday night 4-1 that will allow the district to pay substitute teachers up to $175 a day if teachers strike.

The only dissenting board member, Gloria Behrendt, said she was disappointed not to have a contract yet and cited her two grandchildren in the middle school as a “concern.”

“We really felt we had something going,” Behrendt said of prior negotiations.

Her “no” vote was met with applause and cheers by the dozens of teachers in attendance.

The resolution authorizes the superintendent to hire substitutes should teachers and school employees hit the picket line. No dollar amount was given for wages in non-teaching positions.

The superintendent could also close any school facility and “make any changes necessary to maintain the educational program and provide for the safety of all students and staff.”

“Rather than settling a contract they are preparing for a strike,” teachers union President Pat Czech said.
Czech said she hopes to have a “fair” package in place by Sept. 29 and said the teachers are trying to force additional mediations. The teachers union has given a 10-day strike notice and can go on strike starting Sept. 30.

Superintendent Will Folger said after the meeting the school board is “very committed to avoiding a strike.”
Folger said the number of substitutes to be hired, if needed, is not finalized.

It’s not just compensation but issues involving hospitalization, transfers and tuition reimbursement that keeps the two sides apart, Czech said.

“We are the only district in Lorain County that doesn’t offer its teachers tuition reimbursement,” Czech said. This is an issue since the state recently mandated all teachers have a master’s degree within two to five years of their first licensing, Czech said.

Folger agreed that “most of the issues are financial.”

Czech told fellow teachers she believed it was going to cost the district between $24,000 and $50,000 a day to keep the schools open because the district will pay the substitute teachers a wage, three meals a day, rooming expenses and transportation to and from the buildings.

Folger said the cost will be about $25,000 a day.

“It’s considerably less than we pay the teachers every day,” he said.

A news release issued Sunday by the board stated the teachers association and classified employees union exchanged new proposals but “remained far apart” after mediation Sunday.

“In a county where layoffs are announced all too frequently, we are surprised that we are offering pay increases and still can’t get a settlement,” Folger says in the news release.

Both sides said further mediation sessions have not been scheduled.

Contact Alicia Castelli at 329-7144 or acastelli@chroniclet.com.