Toronto board OKs contract
TORONTO -- The Toronto Board of Education Thursday approved a three-year contract for its service personnel members, and Superintendent Maureen Taggart provided an update on the damaged gym floor at Toronto Elementary School.
The contract calls for about 35 service personnel workers, such as custodians, cafeteria workers and bus drivers, to receive a 4 percent raise in the first year, followed by a 3 percent raise in each of the following two years.
Taggart said it came following two sessions of negotiations with representatives of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees and was supported by all of the school district's service personnel.
Approval of the contract came a month after a three-year contract was reached for the school district's teachers and other certified non-administrative personnel through negotiations with the Ohio Education Association.
Following Thursday's meeting, Taggart confirmed crews recently replaced the gym floor, with the school district's insurance policy covering all but a $500 deductible for the $145,000 cost.
She said inspectors and a forensic engineer for the school district's insurance provider weren't able to precisely determine what caused boards in the floor to buckle but suspect it was due to a clogged stormwater drain beneath the building that appears to have worked itself loose.
Also on Thursday, the board:
● Approved insurance coverage, at the cost of $46,655, for the next year for property, auto liability, educators legal and crime coverage through McBane Insurance.
● Renewed an agreement calling for C.H.A.N.G.E. Inc. to provide nursing services to its schools for the next school year at a rate of $35.78 per hour for full-time nursing services and $20.24 per hour for substitute nursing services.
● Approved the purchase of a six-year subscription to the McGraw Hill Inspire science curriculum for Toronto's high school students for about $43,649.
● Approved a three-year subscription to the KnowAtom science curriculum for middle school students for about $78,008, with at least $50,000 of that amount to be covered by federal funds.
● Approved $13,178 to Johnson Controls of Pittsburgh for repairs and parts for a chiller used to cool the junior-senior high school.
The board's next meeting is slated for 5 p.m. July 20 at the library of the junior-senior high school.