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Pettisville Teachers Seek No Hike In Base Pay; Board Okays Offer




The Pettisville Teacher Association asked for no raise in base pay for a new one-year “professional agreement,” or contract, with the district school board.

The board approved the agreement at its Monday, April 12, meeting.

Steve Switzer, Pettisville Local School District superintendent, said the agreement was unique in his experience in school administration because the teachers sought no raises.

“Our teaching staff, recognizing the poor economy and the school funding climate, recommended that we make no changes to the base salary for next year,” Switzer said.

“This is unheard of in education circles where groups always ask for more than is expected in the hopes of getting as much as possible.”

Switzer said the only change the teacher association requested was to move the 27-year increment on the pay schedule to year 25. The move accommodates changes in State Teacher Retirement System regulations.

The change will have no effect for the coming year, but could help teachers increase their retirement benefits if they retire after 30 years of service.

John King, board president, praised the Pettisville teachers.

King said the contract is referred to as a professional agreement, and he believes the teachers at Pettisville were truly professional in their approach to their jobs.

The board and the teacher association are doing two one-year agreements, rather than the usual practice of two-year contracts, because of uncertainties in the Ohio school funding program.

Members of the teacher association will receive incremental, or step, increases for years of service if they reach a step on the district’s salary schedule.

There will be no raise in base pay, which would have boosted all teacher salaries.

Switzer said this is the first time in 19 years Pettisville teacher staff has gone without a base pay raise.

The last time was in 1991, just after district voters turned down a property tax levy, the only levy failure in the history of Pettisville Local Schools.–D.J. Neuenschwander



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