November 20, 2020

Media Contact: Cathan Cavanaugh, CH-UH Supervisor of Communications

c_cavanaugh@chuh.org | 216-320-2009 (o) | 330-728-3325 (c)

This statement should be attributed to Jodi Sourini, President of the Cleveland

Heights-University Heights City School District Board of Education:

The Cleveland Heights Teachers Union’s decision to strike​ ​is unfortunate given our good
faith efforts to negotiate a fair and fiscally responsible contract. Our final offer continues to
provide fair and competitive compensation and benefits for our teachers while being
responsible to our taxpayers. An action like this does not serve our students, our
community or the teachers.

Our students and their families are our top priority. Students’ education must and will
continue. Students will continue their studies remotely as they have been in response to
the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

We firmly believe our CH-UH schools have some of the best and brightest teachers in the
classroom, and we have nothing but the highest respect for them and what they do for our
students every day. However, we recognize that we face a fiscal crisis created by factors
beyond our control, including EdChoice vouchers and the State of Ohio’s decision to make
cuts to our district funding.

The official results show that the Heights community has narrowly passed our 4.8 mill
operating levy. However, as the​ ​Lay Finance Committee indicated​ in July, this millage was
the bare minimum needed to keep the District afloat, and only if paired with $2 million in
additional cuts for Fiscal Year 22. Our financial situation remains dire. The district faces an
$8 million deficit in Fiscal Year 2023 unless systemic cost savings are made in the interim.
The board has a responsibility to make fair decisions for the welfare of our students, their
families, staff, teachers, other union members and the community.

The compromises we have asked for are reasonable. The healthcare plan currently in place
is out of line with those of any comparable school district, as is the Board’s pick-up of 1
percent of the teachers’ mandatory retirement contribution. Our offer aligns the union’s
healthcare and retirement contributions with other similar-sized school districts.

These are extraordinary times that call for meaningful collaboration from all. We have met
with the Cleveland Heights Teachers Union for more than 60 hours since the start of
summer to reach an acceptable contract. Our final offer is fair, equitable and competitive
and continues to provide our teachers and other represented employees with competitive
compensation and health benefits. In response, the Union proposed an offer that would still
cost the District nearly $1 million a year. That proposal only exacerbates the District’s grim
financial reality and was rejected.

Because the Board determined there was no realistic possibility that continued discussions
would be fruitful, and that good faith negotiations towards reaching an agreement had
been exhausted, the Board ​voted to implement​ our last, best, final offer, which remains in
effect. The Union thereafter asked the Board to come back to the bargaining table, which it
did, only to be presented with an offer that would cost the District approximately $3.5
million over two years. That proposal was also rejected.

We have worked hard to produce a fair offer during this challenging economic time. The
threat of a strike given these extraordinary circumstances is disappointing. It remains our
goal to resolve this contract swiftly and amicably.

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