(Editor\u2019s note: Today continues The Daily Herald\u2019s annual series of top local stories for the year.)
\nThe Tyrone Area School Board approved two new contracts in the school district this year. This past July, board members approved a five-year contract with Raystown Transit Service to provide student transportation, effective with the 2007-08 school year. The board also approved the professional teacher contract between the Tyrone Area Education Association and the Tyrone Area School District this past September, avoiding the possibility of a strike by the teachers.
\nThe school board terminated the district\u2019s contract with Rayco Transportation over the summer and soon after the board approved a five-year contract with Raystown Transit Service, giving the district the option of renewing if they are satisfied with Raystown\u2019s services. All but two of the former Rayco Transportation drivers signed on to drive for Raystown Transit and continued to transport Tyrone students.
\nDenise Beck of Rayco reported to the school district after signing their contract for the 2007-08 school year, her insurance would be raised $15,000 for the upcoming school year.
\nSchool district officials said that the TASD has always paid the state reimbursement for transportation to the bus contractors, which is what neighboring Bellwood-Antis and other central PA school districts are paying bus contractors. Superintendent Dr. William Miller stated that the TASD has always stood by these transportation contracts.
\nThere was also an issue that many of Rayco\u2019s fleet of buses were old and needed replaced.
\nRaystown Transit service started in the busing business in 1995 with one bus in the Juniata Valley School District. The present operation includes nearly 100 vehicles serving seven school districts in Blair and Huntingdon counties.
\nThe TASB also approved a new teachers\u2019 contract in September of this year, covering the three-year period of July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2010. School board members voted unanimously in favor of the new contract 8-0, with board member Peter Dutrow absent from the meeting.
\nOn September 4, the school board and the union accepted the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board fact-finder\u2019s report by Robert C. Gifford. Teacher\u2019s reportedly voted 60-55 in favor, the board 9-0. It recommended a 21-year step system that would increase starting salaries each year, from last year\u2019s $32,000 to $34,586 in the 2009-10 school year. Top salary for a teacher with a bachelor\u2019s degree will be increased each year, from the current $59,244 to $63,586 in 2009-10.
\nThe TASD superintendent was pleased to have a contract for the next three years.
\n\u201cWe feel it\u2019s a very fair, impartial decision of the fact-finder, which the school board accepted in total, and that creates a positive climate for the school,\u201d added Miller.
\nThrough the negotiating process, the major dispute between the district and the members of its teachers\u2019 union was due to how many years it would take for a teacher to reach maximum salary. According to the union, the district\u2019s former scale hit max salary at 41 years and the district\u2019s estimation was 36 years.
\nThe teachers\u2019 union believed the pay scale lagged behind neighboring school districts when salary was calculated over the course of a career.
\nTyrone Area Education Association chief negotiator and TASD English department chair Steve Everhart appreciated the generosity of the school board. He said that the raises were better than in past years and he was pleased about that.
\n\u201cWe are grateful for the contract and we hope the school board continues to recognize the quality of work the teachers do in the future,\u201d added Everhart.
\nBoard member and school district chief negotiator Amy Stever felt the board made the first step in a process that takes some time, and as time moves forward, she believes everyone can continue on with that progress.
\nStever said, \u201cIt\u2019s not a quick process. It\u2019s definitely well thought out, well planned, well discussed, and therefore both sides get the opportunity to really weigh what\u2019s right, or what\u2019s the best opportunity and best plan for the students. The students were the ones that both sides kept their eyes on.\u201d
\n\u201cI think the town should be very pleased with the teachers and our response,\u201d added Stever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Editor\u2019s note: Today continues The Daily Herald\u2019s annual series of top local stories for the year.) The Tyrone Area School Board approved two new contracts in the school district this year. This past July, board members approved a five-year contract with Raystown Transit Service to provide student transportation, effective with the 2007-08 school year. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area","category-excerpts-from-the-tyrone-daily-herald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}