Right to Know request filed to obtain new Peters teachers’ contract
McMURRAY – It’s been almost four weeks since Peters Township School District and its 285 teachers agreed on a new contract, ending a standoff that lasted eight months and included a three-week strike last fall.
The six-year agreement, retroactive to Aug. 31, 2015, the start of the almost-completed school year, outlines myriad items including salary increases of $1,200 annually for teachers on steps 2 through 16 and $1,000 for those on step 17, the highest salary tier, according to information released by the district on May 16, the day the agreement was announced.
Since that time, the district has not released any additional details on the contract. Verbal and written requests by the The Almanac – the first made May 18 – to the district for a copy of the agreement have been deferred for various reasons, including typographical errors and the flu. The Almanac is owned by Observer Publishing Co.
On Monday – three weeks after the agreement was announced – a state Right to Know request was sent to district business manager Vincent Belczyk, asking for a copy of the contract. By law, Belczyk has five days to respond.
“This part of the process is not at all unusual,” said Shelly Belcher, district spokeswoman. “Once the major items have been agreed upon, the attorneys on each side create the language for the contract. At this point, the district and the (Peters Township Federation of Teachers) are reviewing the edited contract from the attorneys. All issues are settled, it is just a matter of editing the final document.”
“Once we have that in hand, we can send you a copy,” Belcher said.
Additional details of the contract disclosed by the district on May 16 were that contributions to existing health plans would increase 78 percent for individuals and 65 percent for families over the life of the contract. The district also said two other, lower cost plans will be offered. Again, because the agreement has not been made available, details on the lower-cost plans are still not known.
The fall work stoppage pushed the last day of school for the district’s 4,000-plus students back to June 23. Seniors, however, are scheduled to graduate Saturday.