Union to sue school district

Motion is due to non-teacher employee layoffs, group says

The Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE/AFSCME Local 4) union on Dec. 8 announced its intention of filing a lawsuit on behalf of WilloughbyEastlake non-teacher employees who were recently laid off as the district moves to remote learning.

At a Nov. 19 special meeting, the Willoughby-Eastlake School Board approved a reduction of force of more than 200 employees. District Superintendent Steve Thompson said at the meeting it was a “very difficult decision to make knowing that it impacts the lives of a lot of our employees that have done nothing except be dedicated employees.”

When the school board made the decision, Lake County had a two-week novel coronavirus incidence rate of 1,032 cases per 100,000 population. It was one of the highest rates in the state and more than 10 times the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s definition of high incidence.

The county was on the cusp of being moved to Level 4 (purple) in Ohio’s COVID-19 Public Health Advisory System. It would be moved to that level Nov. 25.

Thompson said that as of 4:27 p.m. on the date of the meeting, there were 42 active COVID-19 cases in the district: 17 students and 25 staff.

He said the county’s situation necessitated “closure for our schools, which most unfortunately puts a lot of employees without viable, meaningful work to perform.”

“So that is a very difficult decision, but ultimately we’re the fiscal agents of taxpayers’ dollars and we have to be responsible,” Thompson said at the meeting. “Those aren’t our dollars. They’re the taxpayers’ dollars. So we did the very best we could to keep as many people gainfully employed as we could.

“But we simply do not, by virtue of being remote, we do not have the need for some positions regardless of how creative we can be.”

According to school district records, the effective dates of the temporary reduction in force notices spanned from Nov. 16 to Dec. 16.

Thompson said at the meeting that they are planning on bringing back the laid off employees “as quickly as

possible.”

“Perhaps, our target date again is Jan. 19, but that could be modified if our numbers change,” Thompson said.

Among those affected by the layoffs are custodians, maintenance employees and food service workers, who are members of OAPSE locals 159 and 163. An OAPSE representative said a lawsuit is expected to be filed in Lake County Common Pleas Court after the Dec. 16 layoffs take effect. OAPSE stated it will also file grievances with the employer and unfair labor practice charges with the State Employee Relations Board.

Trina Molnar, an OAPSE field representative who works with the local unions at Willoughby-Eastlake, said there is “absolutely no financial reason” for the layoffs.

“Keep in mind, the laid off employees can’t even file for unemployment until the day the layoffs go into effect,” Molnar said in a Dec. 8 statement.

“That’s nine days before Christmas. And if that’s not bad enough, the district is kicking these workers off their insurance in the middle of a global health pandemic. It’s cruel and it’s heartless.”

Molnar said workers currently pay $102 for single coverage and $205 for a family plan. If they want to continue insurance coverage after Dec. 31, they will have to pay $699 for single coverage and $1,922 to cover family members.

“This is just cruel,” Molnar said in her statement. “It’s mean-spirited to lay off 200 workers – who make an average of $31,000 – and cut off their insurance right now, especially when people have pre-existing conditions and need their coverage. You don’t see them laying off any highly

paid administrators and asking them to pay ridiculous COBRA amounts for insurance.”

Willoughby-Eastlake Schools Public Relations Coordinator Catharine Beal said in a Dec. 8 phone call that the district does know anything about the potential lawsuit and said the district does not have further comment.

A school board member asked at the Nov. 19 meeting how the reduction of force list was compiled.

Willoughby-Eastlake Assistant Superintendent Charles Murphy said there were several groups of employees on the list. Among them were student monitors and noon aides.

“They really wouldn’t have anything to do without the kids in school,” Murphy said.

Murphy said the district looked at certain custodians and decided that they could “pretty much manage with just the head custodian at each building, the plant supervisor, so we laid off the rest.”

“Food service, kind of the same concept,” he said. “Kept the kitchen manager and laid off the rest because we felt like we could manage with one person.”

Then they looked at paraprofessionals and “kept who we felt like we needed according to their IEPs (Individualized Education Programs).”

Murphy said they then looked at the secretary group and kept principal secretaries at each building, laid off “just about all of our administrative secretaries and other secretaries in the buildings.”

“There was a method to all of it and then in determining who then, it was just following all the rules of each negotiated agreement, mostly driven by seniority,” Murphy said.