Moon Area School Board Members React to Teachers Contract

More than a month after its passage, Moon Area School Board members reacted to the new, between the and its teachers union.

Last night, board members discussed night why they decided to approve or disapprove the agreement in a heated discussion that spanned the final moments of the board's monthly meeting.

The board ratified the district's five-year earlier this summer, ending a yearlong impasse with the nearly 300-member Moon Area Education Association.

Board members Sandra McCurdy and Jeffrey Bussard voted against the measure.

McCurdy said concerns about salary increases for teachers and faculty health care contributions prompted her to disapprove the new contract.

McCurdy said she was unable to remove documents regarding the agreement from school premises, preventing her from being able to "complete her own analysis" on the specifics of the contract.

She also said despite the board's ratification vote she has not yet seen a full version of the contract.

"Under no circumstances will I approve a contract that I have not had the ability to review," McCurdy said.

"I wanted a fair contract for our teachers and taxpayers, but unfortunately without all the facts, I don't think the taxpayers were fairly represented," she said.

Bussard said concern about the future of the district's finances caused him to vote no on the contract.

"We're to the point where we can't keep this up," Bussard said, speculating about the district's future tax revenue sources. "There's not enough development in this community to keep this up. It's not here."

Board member Jerry Testa, who voted to approve the contract, said he believed the contract stuck an even balance between union demands and the district's finances.

The contract included $3.6 million in additional savings compared to an between the parties earlier this year.

"That recommendation was out of touch with reality," Testa said of the arbitrator's proposal. "[The contract] was a benefit to the district, to the students and to the tax dollars."

Board President Mark Scappe countered McCurdy's claims, saying that board members were provided with ample time to review contract information in executive sessions.  

He said it’s common practice for the district to not release contract materials while negotiating.

"We're on very sound ground financially," Scappe said of the district. "We're better off than probably three quarters of the school districts in Allegheny County."

"I don't have to use that doom and gloom scare tactic to scare the public," Scappe said.