×

Switzerland of Ohio reaches contract agreement

After hours of negotiations, the Switzerland of Ohio Local School District Board of Education and the Switzerland of Ohio Education Association have reached an agreement regarding the terms of the teacher’s new contract.

The two groups met for their sixth round of federally mediated bargaining sessions Tuesday morning, with deliberations stretching into the evening. The board and SOEA union have been working toward a fair contract agreement for the district’s teachers since August when the previous contract expired.

Karissa Wooddell, spokeswoman for the SOEA, said she is overjoyed to have finally been able to reach an agreement with the board.

“After eight hours of deliberations, we were finally able to reach a tentative agreement tonight, which is huge,” she said. “It’s really great, it’s really exciting.”

Sarah Smith, president of the board of education, said the board is also happy to have the contract negotiations settled.

“We are happy that it all came together today. … months of hard work by our administrative team and SOEA’s negotiating team has paid off. I’m very thankful to settle,” she said via text message Tuesday evening.

Now that both parties have agreed on the terms of a new contract, a potential teacher strike is off the table and the two parties can move forward, Wooddell said.

“The idea that there is a tentative agreement eliminates the entire crisis altogether. Both sides agreed to everything in the contract verbally. So we’re done with the crisis process,” she said.

“The tentative agreement means there’s not going to be a strike, there’s not going to be anymore animosity. We’ve reached an agreement and we can move forward.”

Although an agreement has been reached, no details involving the actual contract can be released until the general membership has had a meeting to accept the terms. Wooddell said when a new contract agreement has been tentatively agreed upon by the board and the SOEA’s representatives, the 219 union members and the board members must then vote prior to the deal becoming finalized.

“The membership has to hear everything, and we have to all agree to it too, which we will if our bargaining team agreed to it,” she said.

Once the contract is finalized and signed by both parties, the details of the new contract will be released. Wooddell said she is hopeful that it will be completed in the next few days.

The SOEA said in a release statement that it is thankful to all parties involved they were able to come to a fair agreement.

“SOEA would like to thank the SOEA negotiations team, the school board and our communities for standing behind us and helping both sides come to a fair agreement that is in the best interest of the entire school district,” the union stated.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.15/week.

Subscribe Today