Hollidaysburg educators could go on strike next month as the union and school district still haven’t come to an agreement after a bargaining session Tuesday.
Michael Rawlins is the president of the Hollidaysburg Area Education Association, which represents about 230 professional staff at the Hollidaysburg Area School District. He said the union is seeking about a 5% wage increase.
“Right now, our school is sixth out of eight in our county on starting salary, and we're falling further and further behind in career salary," Rawlins said. "So we're really trying to just keep a competitive package that keeps our teachers from leaving.”
Rawlins said more than 60 teachers in the district have left in the past three years and that many of them left the profession entirely.
Rawlins said the district is offering wage increases close to what they’re asking.
“But what's causing the holdup is they're also asking for significant reductions in our healthcare benefits and increasing the cost of our healthcare benefits to the employee quite a bit," Rawlins said.
Healthcare costs are rising drastically across the nation. Hollidaysburg school district officials said in a statement they’ve had to spend about $650,000 more on teacher healthcare expenses this year, while teachers’ monthly contributions haven’t changed.
Curtis Whitesel, the district’s superintendent, said the school board is excited to continue negotiations next Wednesday and come to an agreement as soon as possible.
The teachers’ union voted this week to strike starting November 23 if a deal can’t be met before then. That's the week of Thanksgiving, which Rawlins said was chosen to have the least impact on students' schedules.
