USC School Board approves contract with bus drivers
The Upper St. Clair School Board during its Jan. 9 meeting approved a new four-year agreement with the district’s 40 bus drivers and five attendants.
Earlier in the day, the USC School Education Professionals Association union ratified the agreement, which runs from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2021, institutes a two-tier system for drivers to move from the initial steps to the top step over five years.
Under the new contract, drivers at the top step will receive a 2.5-percent annual increase, while drivers at the lowest step will receive a 4-percent increase in the first year, and a 3-percent annual increase for the remainder of the contract.
The contract also provides increases in the activity rate and offers vision insurance to association members.
School Superintendent Patrick O’Toole commended those involved with negotiations, including recently-retired finance director Frosina Cordisco.
O’Toole said that under the current and previous contracts, bus drivers had accepted wage freezes for three of the last six years, and they had agreed to a flat two-tiered wage structure, concessions which were the result of reductions in state and federal funding and significant mandated pension cost increases. O’Toole said that the new contract helps the district remain competitive in hiring and retaining bus drivers.
“Our school bus drivers and attendants have difficult and important jobs,” O’Toole said. “They set the tone for our students’ day. They deliver children to school safely and ready to learn.”
During the committee of the whole portion of the Jan. 9 meeting, the board received information from USC Director of Technology Ray Berrott regarding a new electronic ticketing event system, which could replace the district’s current paper tickets and manual system for various events.
After comparing several options, Berrott recommended the Eventbrite system to the board. According to Berrott, there would be no cost to the district, as the credit card convenience fee would be absorbed in the cost of the tickets, and the on-line service would operate on the district’s current hardware.
Berrott wants to see the online ticketing service begin with sales for tickets for the high school spring musical this March. The contract with Eventbrite would be for one year, but could be canceled with 30 days notice if the district is not satisfied with the product. Eventually, the system could be extended to athletic and other events.
The board is expected to vote on the ticketing event system at its Jan. 23 meeting.
Also up for approval at the board’s Jan. 23 meeting are fast track curriculum recommendations, which allow for changes to be made to the high school course of studies program so that changes to courses or additions to courses can be official and offered in the upcoming school year.
Some of the recommendations are additional STEAM opportunities, including the potential of creating an Innovation Hub at Ft. Couch Middle School to extend the current programming being done at Boyce Middle School, studying the expansion of robotics offerings at the high school, and offering a course in Bioinfomatics at the high school.
Another recommendation is the evaluation and redesign of the 12th grade experience to offer student-driven, goal-oriented experiences that promote preparation for college, career, and life.
There are several recommendations to enhance current high school course work including adding print journalism to the current multi-media journalism course in support of participation in the school newspaper, changes to the delivery of forensic science, addition of more customized materials for AP chemistry, and addition of an after-school audition-only orchestra experience for high school students.
At the elementary level, a new counseling curriculum will be piloted in grades 1, 2, and 3 to provide consistent and enhanced skills in the areas of social and emotional learning.