The tentative agreement between the South Butler County School District and its support staff is on hold, a union negotiator said Wednesday night.
Negotiations are also under way with teachers.
The support staff agreement was struck last week, and was set to be voted on by the support staff's union and the school board at their next voting meetings on Sept. 10.
But for staff, the vote is suspended until a language dispute is resolved, said Christine Cortazzo, a negotiator for the Pennsylvania State Education Association who represents the support staff and teachers unions.
The support staff will have a meeting today to determine their next step, Cortazzo said.
The vote was not listed on Wednesday night's agenda for the Sept. 10 meeting, and the topic did not come up in public session.
Meanwhile, the negotiations for the teachers contract are improving as several non-monetary issues get resolved, Cortazzo said.
Those issues include direct deposit, lesson plans, life insurance and maternity leave, said district labor attorney Tom Breth.
Negotiation sessions are scheduled for Wednesday and Sept. 16 and 25.
The board is a little frustrated that the negotiations are taking so long, Breth said.
"If we're spending three, four, five sessions talking about how we're going to resolve lesson plans, how are we ever going to get the real issues resolved, like health insurance?" he asked.
Cortazzo said the teachers have no intention to strike, but they are planning for one.
"We hope to never have to go on strike," she said. "But it would be silly not to plan for it."
In other business:
- The board approved a preliminary contract with district architects, the Foreman Group, for design services on upcoming renovations to the high school, middle school roof and primary school parking lot. Two board members, Debra Miller and Richard Sefton, voted no.
- Administrators introduced school directors to 13 out of 15 new newly hired teachers, who were greeted with a round of applause.
Miller said she believed the details of the standard contract were not clear enough and didn't include hard dates or figures she had expected to see.
"I understand it's a standard contract, but if you don't have defined dates then you don't have any defined expense exposure for the district," she said.
As of yet, district officials have not estimated the cost of the project.
Coming up
Who: South Butler County school directors, district architects the Foreman Group
What: Meeting on the high school renovation project
When: 6 p.m. tonight
Where: Administration office conference room, 328 Knoch Road, Jefferson Township
