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WOODSFIELD -- The Switzerland of Ohio Education Association voted to ratify the tentative contract agreement it secured earlier this month.
SOEA spokeswoman Karissa Wooddell said the association met early last week with an overwhelming majority of SOEA members voting in favor of the proposed new contract and a new remote learning plan.
"The vote was 95 percent yes and 5 percent no, so that's a huge approval from the SOEA," she said.
The Switzerland of Ohio Board of Education must still approve the agreement prior to the contract going into effect. Sarah Smith, president of the board of education, said she is confident the agreement will pass.
"The SOEA ratified it last week, now all we need to do is the official action," she said.
The board of education will meet at 5 p.m. today via video conference to vote on the new contract. The public can watch the meeting via a link on the school district's website, sk12.org.
The SOEA and the board have been working toward a fair contract agreement since August when the previous contract expired. After months of negotiations, the two organizations came to a tentative agreement for a new teacher's contract Dec. 15. Yet the new agreement could not be finalized until the union members and the board members voted in favor.
Wooddell said the SOEA was able to maintain many aspects from the previous contract which was a source of opposition in negotiations. The new contract includes items remaining from the previous contact including insurance, sick leave and personal time.
"That's the biggest reason we got to that crisis point was because we weren't asking for much, we just wanted our contract to be left alone," she said. "We just wanted to keep what we had."
The board will continue to pay 90 percent of the premium for health care with teachers paying the remaining 10 percent.
The SOEA also secured a 16-- percent base salary increase over a three year contract period. Wooddell said the first year 5 percent increase will be retroactive, going back to Aug. 31 when the previous contract expired.
"We will all get a back payment for that raise which is really nice after the holidays," she said.
Another item included in the new contract is tuition reimbursement for teachers who are interested in pursuing further education.
"So if teachers would want to move up on the pay scale and get their master's (degree) plus 15, they will now have the option to get their tuition reimbursed for those credit hours," Wooddell said.
Additionally, a memorandum of understanding involving remote learning was approved by the teacher's union. Wooddell said the district has many teachers who are not only teaching in the classroom, but also teaching remote learning students afterward. Those teachers involved in remote learning plans will now earn an additional $18.75 per day.
"It's about $100 a week for those teachers who are giving up their weekends," she said.
Wooddell said the SOEA is satisfied with the new agreement and grateful for the support of all involved in reaching the new fair contract.
Wooddell said the SOEA is eager to have the contract approved and to move forward.
"We are eagerly anticipating the school board's expected approval of the contract and look forward to working together with district leaders to serve the needs of our students moving forward," she stated.
Additional information regarding the contract's details will be released once it has been approved by all parties, Wooddell said.