MADISON TOWNSHIP — The Madison Board of Education unanimously approved a new three-year contract for the district’s teachers at Wednesday night’s meeting, ending a lengthy labor dispute that encompassed 11 months, 22 meetings and a soft strike.
On Wednesday night, the Madison Local Education Association (MLEA) and Madison Local Schools announced an agreement on a contract that runs retroactively from Aug. 1, 2018 through July 31, 2021.
“This contract shows the appreciation and the respect that we have for our teachers,” said school board president Jeff Meyers.
He thanked both sides for their “hard work and diligence” in coming to an agreement.
The new contract does not include a raise for teachers in the first year, but will increase salaries by three percent in the second year and another three percent in the third year. Insurance coverage will be similar to what it has been in the past, according to labor leader Mike Leeper, who outlined what the contract included.
“Language exchanges. That was the main aspect of the contract. We kept the language in our contract that allows us to do what needs to be done for our kids,” Leeper said.
This language included terms like “transferring teachers,” “reductions” and “lay-offs,” which Leeper said were introduced into the contract by former superintendent Shelley Hilderbrand, who is now on paid-leave.
Leeper commended interim superintendent Lee Kaple and school board member Tim Wigton for their role in negotiations, as they made “things go a lot smoother than they had been.”
Kaple said reaching an agreement was a relief to all parties involved.
“Everybody wanted to settle it, for it to come to an agreement,” Kaple said. “We were motivated to get a contract, and they were, too.”
Wigton complimented everyone involved in the negotiations.
“I think it shows that we can work together and I’d like to see that continue in a lot of different ways,” he said.
MLEA spokesperson and teacher Kathie Jansen said the soft strike, which was initiated in early February, played a significant role in the negotiations. During this time, teachers refused to work outside their contractual obligations and would no longer do work outside normal school hours.
“It opened the eyes of some people on the board and in the community about how much we do outside of our contract,” she said. “All this extra stuff that we don’t get paid for wasn’t getting done, so I think it may have educated a few people.”
Jansen thanked the community and parents for their support. It could be seen Wednesday evening, as dozens of teachers, students and others filed into the board meeting at 5:55 p.m., wearing green shirts and holding up a banner that read, “Community, teachers, students, together we stand, today, tomorrow and always.”
Similar signs and support were visible at other meetings, and some parents displayed signs in their yards.
“We want to thank the community and parents’ support in all of this … Without that, I don’t know that we would have seen an agreement,” Jansen said.
She said she is already thinking about the future.
“We’re happy to put this part behind us, but we are still concerned about the future. We have an (on-leave) superintendent who is being paid, we’ll be looking for a new superintendent, and we’ll have two board members that are up in November,” Jansen said. “We’d like to make sure we have some people who are pro-teachers to fill those positions.
“The state of public education is always a concern to us.”
