ASHLAND — Ashland City School District teachers will receive a one-time payment of $500 and two additional professional learning days, according to an agreement between the Ashland City School District Board of Education and the Ashland City Teachers Association (ACTA).
The School Board approved a Memorandum of Understanding at its regular Monday evening meeting, allowing the additional compensation through COVID-19 relief funding.
The ACTA had already approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at an earlier date. Though the vote was not unanimous, the overwhelming majority supported its passage.
“This year, it’s been a lot. Our membership had wanted time because the duties of teaching online and in-person are very demanding, and we needed more time to be able to do it well,” ACTA co-president, Bonita Gauss said.
Though pleased to come to a resolution, Carol Kinney, who is Gauss’s counterpart, noted concessions were made on both sides to reach the agreement.
The grievance that prompted the MOU had been filed in summer 2020. It highlighted concerns about balancing remote and in-person teaching responsibilities.
“It all came together for us last week. We really talked about what do they want. We talked through a lot of items and had an energetic conversation,” Superintendent Dr. Doug Marrah said. “When it boiled down, we did what you typically do when you have a family get together. We had a disagreement, (but) we worked out the disagreement.”
The additional $500 is to be paid in a regular pay period in January 2021.
The additional professional learning days were scheduled for Jan. 21 and Mar. 12. These days are reserved for the planning and development of remote learning.
Professional learning days are also scheduled for Feb. 12 and May 17.
Any delayed start due to weather conditions will also be set aside for remote learning planning and development.
The MOU runs from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021.
Representatives had last met on Dec. 15. Among those in the discussion were Dr. Marrah, Kinney, Gauss, Linda McKibben, Dr. Tamara Stevens, Steve Paramore, Ben Spieldenner, Josh Packard, Kate Bartlett, Nicole Brodie, Matt White, Heidi Obrecht, Molly LaRue and Beth Kohne.
