State College Area School District’s Board of Directors Requests Fact-Finding Process

The State College Area School District Board of School Directors has been negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with State College Area Education Association for the past 22 months. With the assistance of a mediator appointed by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, both groups have worked diligently toward resolution. However, after more than 30 face-to-face discussions, differences remain between the two parties.

On Oct. 29, the Board filed a request with the PLRB to appoint a fact finder to help the parties agree to terms of a new contract. The fact finder will explore differences in the proposals put forth by representatives from SCAEA and the Board of School Directors. It is expected that a fact finder will be appointed later this month.

Board President Ann McGlaughlin stated: “The Board remains committed to our teachers and the collective bargaining process. We sincerely appreciate our teachers’ continued dedication to students as we work to achieve a fair and equitable contract.”
Here is a brief summary of the fact finding process:

• Both sides must submit a summary of issues in dispute to the fact finder within five days.

• The fact finder will conduct a hearing no later than mid-December and will take oral and written testimony from both parties.

• During this process, if the parties so choose, negotiations may continue.

• If a new agreement is not reached in the interim, the fact finder will issue recommendations and send a written report to both parties within 40 days of the fact finder’s appointment.  These recommendations are not binding.

• Each party must either accept (in whole) or reject (in whole) the fact finder’s recommendations within ten (10) days of the report being issued.

• If either party rejects the recommendations, the report is made public.

• Between 5 and 10 days after the publication of the report, the parties shall again inform the PLRB and each other whether or not they will accept the recommendations.

• If either party rejects the recommendations, the negotiations process continues.

• If both parties accept the recommendations, this becomes the basis for the new contract.

The contract under which the parties are currently operating expired on June 30, 2011. Since that time, and until a new collective bargaining agreement is finalized, the parties must continue to abide by the terms and conditions of the expired contract. Under Pennsylvania law, this is called status quo.

The District will post updates on the process to our website (www.scasd.org).