Greater Clark, teachers still in contract talks

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Greater Clark County Schools Board of Trustees President Ernie Gilbert

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December 18, 2009

Board President Ernie Gilbert hopes GCCS agreement will be reached in January

BY RICHARD GOOTEE The News and Tribune Fri Dec 18, 2009, 06:54 PM EST

JEFFERSONVILLE — It appears no collective bargaining agreement will be reached between Greater Clark County Schools and its teachers and bus drivers until 2010, but the school board president sounded confident an agreement will be in place early next year.

“If it works out, and the teachers and bus drivers can come to agreement and approve the contract, then with a little luck, that will come up maybe in the January meeting or very shortly thereafter,” board President Ernie Gilbert said after a closed-door meeting on the subject Friday morning.

The employees without contracts are working under last year’s agreement, which automatically rolled over when no new agreement was reached, according to state law.

Gilbert declined to comment on the executive session, which lasted less than 30 minutes.

He did say the meeting was unrelated to the education funding cuts ordered earlier this week by Gov. Mitch Daniels, and was unsure how that announcement would affect the bargaining process.

A phone call was placed to teachers union President Nick Wiese, but it was not returned by press time Friday.

The board — during a regular meeting following the executive session — also approved payment of some of the corporation’s bills, including payroll.

“The purpose of this [meeting] was that there was people who had submitted claims and we wanted to get them paid by Christmas,” Gilbert said.

— Richard Gootee is a freelance journalist from Southern Indiana who attends Franklin College.