Teachers, parents and community members, many wearing red t-shirts, flooded the room for yet another Lexington Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 12. Their interest at the meeting was ongoing contract negotiations.
The Lexington Teachers Association (LTA) and the board of education have been in negotiations since June 2014. The teachers’ contracts, between the LTA, the Ohio Department of Education and the district’s board of education, expired on August 31. On Oct. 8, the Lexington Teachers’ Association declared a work-to-rule, meaning teachers would only work their contractually-obligated hours.
Some community members had questions, others concerns.
Community member Scott Berry, for example, brought a question to the board. “As a community member and a taxpayer, I would like to know how much we’ve spent on this lawyer.”
President Robert Whitney responded, “Well, to tell you the truth, I don’t know what we’ve spent so far.” However, he explained, the lawyer’s (William C. Pepple) rate is $275 per hour. And the Ohio School Boards Association does have a program that offers help in negotiation, but he said they charge $250 per hour, on top of the almost $5,000 annual fee the district already pays.
“We’ve probably paid more to the Ohio School Boards Association than we have to Mr. Pepple,” said Whitney.
One man from the community, who went unnamed but identified himself as a senior in the community, said he was appalled at the suggestion that Lexington teachers are underpaid.
“”Having indicated a true-blue dedication to the district and appreciation for it, including the excellent ratings and voting yes on every single levy, I am appalled at the suggestion that these teachers are the lowest paid in the county. And that’s all I’ll say,” he said.
After this comment the room erupted in applause.
Derren Miller, new to the Lexington community, and father of a girl in kindergarten, spoke next. Miller said that he and his wife scraped by and saved to buy a house in Lexington because of the school district’s outstanding academic performance; they wanted the best education for their daughter.
“How can the teachers that make you guys look that good (the board of education) by getting an A+ year after year after year get paid thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars less a year than the worst school district in the area?” he asked.
The room then burst into an uproar to propose a “vote” during the meeting. Whitney, however, brought the room to order by saying, “We’re in negotiations, we’re going to continue with negotiations. This isn’t a popularity to vote about who’s right and who’s wrong. We’re going to negotiate it out and hopefully we’ll get it done. But we’re not going to go back and forth every night. It’s not going to happen.”
Board member Keith Stoner assured the parents and teachers that the LTA and the board of education is making progress, albeit slow progress.
“There are implications at times that this is an inability of us, as a board, to agree. And that’s really not true. There are two sides to this equation […] We are making progress. When we started we had 29 issues. I think we’re down to a couple. It’s been a process, and it’s been a long process,” said Stoner.
The next negotiation meetings will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 18 and Thursday, Nov. 20.
“We are making progress. When we started we had 29 issues. I think we’re down to a couple. It’s been a process, and it’s been a long process,” said board member Keith Stoner.
