A new community group has formed to help end the stalemate between the South Butler School Board and the district’s teachers.
The South Butler School Action Committee has issued a call to action to the school board and the district’s superintendent in an effort to “heal the community.”
The group is asking the board to remove the district’s solicitor from all negotiations to bring the conversation back to the school board and the teachers. The group alleges the solicitor’s fees have totaled over $400,000 in the past four years.
The group is asking for more negotiation sessions- at least one session per week until an agreement is reached.
They are also calling for fair pair for teachers. They say that South Butler is one of the highest performing districts in the county, yet the teachers are some of the lowest paid.
“They deserve to be compensated for their years of service as well as their years of experience,” the groups said in a press release. “Based on financial information provided on the District website, South Butler leadership should be able to find a way to do this without having to raise taxes.”
The South Butler School Action Committee is made up of parents and citizens in the South Butler community.
“As citizens and parents in the South Butler community, we are tremendously concerned that teachers in the South Butler County School District have been working without a contract for nearly four years, with no end in sight and a potential strike on the horizon. During the past four years, the teachers have continued to provide an uninterrupted quality education for our children. Our students continue to perform competitively on state and national tests, including PSSAs, Keystones, and SATs, as well as achieve outstanding results in competitions such as the Mancini Awards, Hometown High-Q , and regional band/orchestra/chorus auditions, to name a few,” according to the group.