What's the disconnect in contract talks between Columbus City Schools and teachers union?

Class sizes, full-time teachers in the arts and physical education, and "functioning" heating, ventilation and cooling systems in every building were among the sticking points the Columbus Education Association cited Friday for the lack of a new contract with Columbus City Schools Board of Education at the end of a marathon bargaining session a day earlier.

Regina Fuentes, spokesperson for the nearly 4,500 teachers, librarians, nurses, counselors, psychologists and other education professionals represented by the CEA, said there has been "no movement from the Board on reducing class sizes, providing full-time art, music and P.E. teachers at the elementary level, or guaranteeing our students will have functioning HVAC in every building."

What has the Columbus City Schools Board of Education agreed to?

Strike negotiationsColumbus City Schools, Columbus Education Association will return to bargaining table

"CEA is disappointed that the Board has again walked away from our students. CEA remains committed to negotiating the learning conditions Columbus students deserve," Fuentes said, repeating a theme in the teachers union negotiating posture.

But Columbus City school board in a release sent late Friday afternoon said that the district had made a commitment to fix the HVAC systems, with 13 more buildings getting air conditioning by the end of September, leaving three of its 109 buildings without. Those include two buildings to be completed next year due to supply chain issues, and one middle school the district is considering replacing as part of its facilities plan.

The board also said it had agreed to smaller classes in grades K-5 with no classes of more than 28 students, a "creative approach" to paid leave for union members who are new parents, more help for students from more specialists, and more time for teachers to plan. The latter was among the issues the CEA had earlier said was a sticking point.

Interestingly, the board put out a media release Aug. 2 stating that the districtwide average class size was 22 students or fewer, which did not jibe with their late afternoon statement about cutting elementary school class sizes.

Wages may be school board and teachers union's biggest negotiation issue

But the biggest issue Board President Jennifer Adair cited was wages. The district's final, final offer was 3% per year for three years. The teachers union asked for 8% per year in their initial offer and never changed that position.

Adair said Thursday that the board presented its “last best, and final offer."

“The offer is strong; it is responsive to the concerns that have been raised; and it reflects how vital our teachers and certificated staff members are to our district,” she said.

That final offer included an increase in the number of school nurses, psychologists and speech language pathologists; an additional planning day for teachers in 2024 and 2025; and would commit to having CEA “at the table to address equity-based staffing.”

CEA said the offer was "substantially unchanged" from the board's previous offer at the end of July.

"We remain committed to bargaining at any time, but are unwavering in our fight for the schools Columbus students deserve," CEA said.

Bryant said Friday that the district provided a "a strong and comprehensive offer that is responsive to the concerns that have been raised."

"We are asking that CEA present the offer fully to their members and give them an opportunity to vote on it on August 21 so that our schools can open their doors to our students next week," Bryant said.

Earlier in negotiations, CEA was asking for an 8% increase at each step of the salary scale for 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25, according to a copy of the unfair labor practice charge the school board filed against the union on Aug. 3 and obtained by The Dispatch.

The school board reported its initial counteroffer on May 23 was a 2.5% increase at each step of the salary for 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25, according to the complaint.

The board said its "final offer" at the time of the complaint was a 3% increase at each step of the salary for 2022-23 and a $2,000 retention bonus to be paid out over the next two years, according to the complaint.

The board's final offer Thursday still included the 3% salary increase.

When asked if the union was still asking for an 8% increase, Fuentes said that "still has not even been negotiated" with the board.

"The district is choosing to publish language that has not been negotiated yet. This includes discussions about salary. This is in direct conflict with our bylaws," she said. We will not supply an itemized list of proposals because we do not want to negotiate these issues through the media. We want the district to negotiate directly with us, in good faith."

The Dispatch tried to reach several Columbus City Schools board members Friday for comment. Those calls were either not returned, or board members declined to comment. Bryant said "any questions about the CEA’s counter-offer should be directed to them."

The teacher salary range for the 2021-22 school year starts at $49,339 and goes up to $107,679, according to Bryant and the district’s teacher salary schedule.

A 3% raise would increase the pay range to $50,819 to $110,909 and an 8% raise would increase the pay range to $53,286 to $116,293.

“By the end of this three-year contract, a teacher who last school year was paid the district’s average salary of $74,000 will be earning more than $91,000 – a 23% increase from the start of the contract,” Adair said.

The 12-hour bargaining session Thursday was the last scheduled negotiations session with a federal mediator and no further talks had been scheduled as of Friday afternoon.

The CEA will now meet Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at the Greater Columbus Convention Center to vote on whether to strike. The vote would take several hours, the union says, and the outcome likely won't be known until early Monday morning.

If a strike is approved, union members would begin picketing later Monday morning outside their schools when they would normally report for work for teacher preparation days. Should a strike continue on through Wednesday, the district's first day of classes, then the state’s largest district, with more than 47,000 students, plans to start the school year remotely.

Some Columbus City Schools parents have criticized the decision, raising concerns that many students didn't do well working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. The district will move to “synchronous and asynchronous remote learning,” and the district’s buildings will be closed to students and community members, according to information on a district webpage.

Students would be required to attend school through remote learning if there is a strike on the first scheduled day of classes. Columbus City Schools spokeswoman Jacqueline Bryant said the district has 600 substitutes who would be given the curriculum to teach remotely.

Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro and National Education Association Vice President Princess Moss will also be at Sunday's member meeting in support of CEA.

“Every student in Columbus, whether they attend Berwick K-8 or Whetstone High, deserves safe, properly maintained, fully resourced neighborhood schools," Moss said.

The last time Columbus City Schools went on strike was in 1975.

Editors note: A previous version of this story contained incorrect information on the effect of a 3% wage increase for union members.

shendrix@dispatch.com

@sheridan120

Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter for The Columbus Dispatch. Sign up for her Mobile Newsroom newsletter here and her education newsletter here.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus schools board and teachers union negotiations: What's next?