ELYRIA — The Elyria Education Association is asking its members to show up to tonight’s Elyria school board meeting as a sign to the board that they will continue to fight for a fair contract.

EEA Negotiations Chairman Mark Smith said in a letter to members that their presence would send a strong message to board members.

“The board needs to see that we are tired of playing games and want a fair settlement,” Smith said in the letter dated Nov. 10, the most recent day EEA members and board members met with a federal mediator in hopes of reaching a new contract for teachers.

Smith said the meeting was unproductive as the board’s negotiating team brought no written proposals to the table, and instead suggested teachers accept less in raises than administrators and classified staff members.

Amy Higgins, district spokeswoman, said she was unaware of any organized effort by EEA members to attend the 7 p.m. board meeting at the Administration Building on Griswold Road.

No one from EEA has requested time to address the board during the meeting, she said.

Smith did not mention in his letter whether teachers will do anything beyond attend tonight’s meeting. However, he told members that the pressure they would put on the board with their presence was necessary as negotiations are “rapidly approaching a crisis situation.”

He did not return calls for comment Tuesday.

The teachers’ contract expired July 31, and the school board and EEA have been negotiating a new contract since April.
A federal mediator was called in to aid in negotiations in August.

Smith said at the time the move was necessary because the board has been “acting vindictively and spitefully” ever since the union rejected the recommendation of the district’s Joint Committee on Insurance to increase health insurance rates.

Administrators and support staff already have agreed to the new rates, which would raise health care contributions for employees from 2.5 percent to 12 percent.

The next scheduled bargaining session is set for Dec. 1.

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.

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