Fairview Park teachers’ union approves tentative contract agreement

FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio (WOIO) - The Fairview Park Education Association (FPEA) members voted to accept a tentative agreement for a new contract Friday, according to FPEA.

Spokesperson Megan Frenz said in a release sent by FPEA that the decision to accept the agreement was made to ensure that students aren’t “negatively impacted.”

“The decision to settle the negotiation process and accept this agreement—one without any meaningful progress on issues with class sizes and adequate prep time to fully meet students’ needs—was not made lightly,” Frenz said. “But, our priority has always been, and will continue to be, ensuring that our students are not negatively impacted, and after careful consideration, we believe it is necessary to accept this agreement to allow us to move forward with that priority at the forefront.”

Frenz added that the union “will continue to use every avenue and tool available to us to advocate for the best educational experience possible for Fairview Park students.”

The new agreement is set to be presented to the Fairview Park Board of Education for ratification, and the board is expected to consider the agreement at its upcoming regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 27.

The union said that the board may also choose to schedule a special meeting before the regularly scheduled meeting for ratification of the agreement.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

The Fairview Park teachers’ union representatives and board of education officials continued negotiations for hours in August, but they didn’t reach a deal.

PREVIOUS: No deal reached after contract negotiations for Fairview Park teachers

The previous contract expired on June 30.

According to the Fairview Park Education Association (FPEA), these latest talks led to some progress; FPEA is disappointed that the board failed to address the most important issues.

FPEA represents approximately 110 members, including teachers, counselors, school psychologists and speech and language pathologists across the Fairview Park City School District.

Negotiations began back in April, but failed to progress, according to FPEA. This left members working under an expired collective bargaining agreement for months.

No future bargaining dates have been set.

Frenz said if the two sides cannot agree to a contract, they cannot rule out voting on a 10-day strike notice. However, Frenz said this is an absolute last resort.

19 News received the following statement from the district: