LUCY HARLOW
State College
Taxpayers in the Keystone Central School District (KCSD) have the right to know how district administrators and the school board are spending their money.
Here are the facts: Since February 2019, under the direction of Superintendent Jacquelyn Martin, the KCSD school board has spent more than $90,000 unsuccessfully defending actions that violated employee union contracts.
The district’s three unions have been forced to file and defend 30 grievances and an unfair labor practice charge because of the district’s actions.
This information was obtained by the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) through numerous right-to-know requests of the district’s records for payments to the district solicitor.
The goal of the unions’ grievance processes is to work out issues without the need to involve attorneys and arbitration hearings.
However, only about one-third of grievances were able to be resolved without legal action because of the district’s refusal to settle the issues with Association representatives.
Earlier this year, Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board hearing officer Jack Marino upheld Unfair Labor Practice charges filed by the Association of Clinton County Educators against the district.
KCSD was charged with anti-union animus and with interfering with union business when issuing discipline to union leaders for sending a union email to its members on a private listserv. PSEA determined that KCSD spent nearly $5,300 in legal fees associated with the Unfair Labor Practice.
Arbitrator fees to settle grievances cost both the district and the unions another $11,000. Arbitration awards amounted to approximately $54,000. The district spent over $20,000 in legal fees arguing against these grievances. In every case that went to an arbitrator, the arbitrator ruled in favor the of the Associations. There is still one pending arbitration decision and another arbitration hearing being scheduled at this time.
It is very unusual for unions to have to file and defend so many grievances against a district. Clearly, there are some administrators in the district who do not respect the employees, their contracts, or PA’s labor laws.
(Lucy Harlow is communications coordinator for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, PSEA, based at State College.)