HASD display policy on hold

Teachers union files request to bargain on district’s ‘political activity’ regulations

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Despite being approved at a board meeting in February, the hotly contested policy covering political activity and controversial displays in the classroom has not been enforced across the Hollidaysburg Area School District, which drew complaints from community members during the board's meeting Wednesday night.

Superintendent Robert Gildea admitted the policy hasn't been put into effect because the teachers union filed a request to bargain.

Policy 321 was approved by the school board by an 8-1 margin after months of back-and-forth debate and parent input and was expected to be implemented immediately. The code limited the images and symbols teachers could display in their classrooms if such displays could be interpreted as "political" in nature.

The Hollidaysburg Area Education Association, however, stepped in following its approval and submitted a request to bargain. According to Gildea, the district was then obligated to sit down with the union and hear its concerns before moving forward with the enforcement of the policy. That process has been moving along since the policy was approved and the board is now mulling the union's complaints.

"If there's a policy that is passed that has a significant impact on how they do their work, they can file a request to impact bargain," Gildea said. "We had one meeting and now the board is reflecting on information that was brought up."

Union President Mike Rawlins had been vocal about the inefficacy and danger of the policy at board meetings since the code was first discussed, repeatedly asking the board to not pass such a ruling to avoid putting teachers in confusing situations that could potentially lead to litigation.

"We appreciate the thoughtfulness you all have put into the revisions; however, many teachers still have concerns about the enforcement of the policy," Rawlins said at February's board meeting.

Community resident Trish Haight spoke out Wednesday, stating she feels as if all the work the board and community put in to come to an agreement on the policy "was all for naught." She said the board is supposed to answer to the voters, not the union.

"If we've learned anything in the six months, it's that we shouldn't compromise," Haight said. "Because when we don't, we win."

Michael Eardley sent an email to all nine board members more than a month ago after noticing that at least two teachers still had displays in their classrooms. He asked the board if there would be any consequences for those teachers and what action would be taken moving forward. He didn't hear back from anyone after a few days, so he sent another email.

The response he received said that the union had filed its request, so the policy was in limbo for the time being. Eardley said he didn't feel the union had any ground to stand on in its dispute, so he wanted the board to enforce the policy immediately.

"If they don't like the policy, they can bring it up at their next salary negotiation or they can teach somewhere else," Eardley said Wednesday. "They don't dictate what happens in our schools, the board does."

Gildea said the policy will still go through, but the board has to figure out how to address the concerns of the union and the teachers the union is representing before being able to enforce it across the district.

Budget talks

In other business, the board has yet to work out a budget for the 2023-24 school year and heard from two representatives of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials.

The presentation de­­scribed the breakdown of the state's funding for school districts, with the representatives explaining that the rate previously was a uniform increase across all state school districts prior to the 2015-16 school year. It was then changed to a base rate plus an increase depending on several factors, including a district's poverty level and enrollment numbers, among others.

That means funding has gone up almost uniformly across the board, but districts don't find out exactly how much they will receive until after the school budgets are approved. The state doesn't typically approve its budget until the late summer or early fall.

Gildea said Blair County school districts have benefited greatly from the new format, but Hollidaysburg does not benefit much, if at all, because its poverty rate is much lower than some other districts around the region. The district also has fewer English as a second language students.

"The state is saying we have the capacity to tax and we're not doing it," Gildea said. "We have very efficient budgets and as a result, we're not taxing our local citizens as much as other districts around the state."

The board will vote on its proposed budget during its meeting on May 10, so there is time to put it out to the public for viewing before final approval in June.

Mirror Staff Writer Nate Powles is at 814-946-7466.