Granville teachers union rejects two-year contract

The Granville Education Association rejected a new proposed two-year teaching contract on Aug. 19.

The board of education had tentatively scheduled a special morning meeting for Aug. 20 to ratify the expected collective bargaining agreement with the association, but that meeting was canceled after the union voted not to accept the proposed contract.

In an Aug. 20 phone interview, district Superintendent Jeff Brown said the board was disappointed with the result of the vote.

The negotiations are unfolding against a challenging revenue year for the district.

The district is facing significant state revenue losses as a result of Covid-19driven state budgets cuts.

“Over the last two years,” Brown said, “we’re actually crossing two fiscal years (and) we lost over a million dollars over the two years . ... We also know our income tax (revenue) is down roughly 7%, based on Ohio Department of Taxation data.”

In July, Brown deferred increased compensation in the form of an automatic 2% salary increase for the 2020-21 school year owed him under his own employment contract.

“The administrative team has not been given a base salary increase this year, either,” Brown said. That team consists of approximately two dozen district employees, he said.

“Ultimately, the next step is we have to return to the table,” Brown said.

Brown said that as of Thursday, no new date for talks had been scheduled.

Representatives of the Granville Education Association said they were unable to comment.