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Any moves by the Granville Teachers Association to offer assistance with easing the pain of the 2011-2012 budget will be decided in the vote for a new contract.
Association President Lynn Wilbur said Tuesday afternoon the membership met Monday afternoon in the high school auditorium to discuss options going forward as the district faces the loss of 28 employees, 13 of them teachers. Most of those teachers are from the high school. The meeting was informational, she said.
“We presented some different scenarios for our membership to make some decisions on. We’re seeing the fiscal crisis and trying to get a handle on what it means and how it will impact our students — all of those things,” Wilbur said.
“We’re taking this very seriously because it’s going to have a huge impact to us,” Wilbur said.
The 135-member Granville Teachers Association contract expired in September and Wilbur said any type of cost-saving deal with the district would come as a part of the new contract members were expected to vote upon Wednesday, April 6.
“We reviewed the situation with our members to provide them with options they can choose from. We gave them something they can vote on, now it’s up to them how they vote,” Wilbur said.
Because the negotiation is ongoing and had not been voted on by the membership Tuesday afternoon, Wilbur declined to speak about specifics of a possible contract.
The membership are in a tough position as they go to vote balancing the needs of the students, their own needs and the ongoing fiscal crisis.
“We’re the lowest-paid teachers in the county and it’s hard trying to looking up and seeing a long ways to go, but we care very deeply about the students here in Granville,” Wilbur said.
“There are very good teachers here and it amazes me the quality, considering the pay scale; it shows the deep love teachers have for the students here in Granville,” Wilbur said.
Wilbur said she needed to look no further than Albany.
“This is a terrible situation that Governor Cuomo and the state have put us in and now we’ve got to deal with it; Thank you very much Mr. Cuomo,” Wilbur said. As with the superintendent, Wilbur said she was disappointed with the meager effort made to restore state aid in the budget.
“It’s very sad that our government is that unaware of the educational situation in the state,” Wilbur said.
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