By JEREMY SELLEW
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With the potential for a teachers’ strike in the Belle Vernon Area School District, the superintendent said she believes the spring sports season will continue.
“We have assistant and volunteer coaches that will step in to coach,” Dr. Michele Dowell said Thursday.
The Leopards’ baseball, softball and track teams started mandatory practice Monday in preparation for the upcoming season.
BVA baseball head coach Tony Watson and softball coach Tom Rodriguez aren’t teachers, but the union president said she can’t guarantee those sports won’t be affected if there is a work stoppage.
“I’m going to talk to them, for sure,” Belle Vernon Area Education Association President Daneen Watson said. “Those supplemental coaches that aren’t teachers are still included under the collective bargaining agreement.”
Track and field is a different story.
Head coach Chris Stasicha and assistants Rod Kavic and John Kerekes are all teachers, as is middle school track coach Rich Gregory.
“Administration has been filling in roles that teachers were doing prior to the work-to-rule decision and we will continue to do whatever is necessary for the students,” Dowell said.
The first official play date for spring sports is March 20.
Swimming coach Rob Reda is in a precarious position with the PIAA Championships getting under way for his swimmers March 13, the date a potential strike would begin.
“From what I understand, he’ll already be out there,” Watson said. “So it is a difficult situation.”
BVA has swimmers competing in events both Friday and Saturday in the Class 2A portion of the championships, which are held at Kinney Natatorium at Bucknell University.
“We will make sure that any team headed into state championships will be able to compete,” Dowell said.
There has been some impact on activities with the union following the work-to-rule decision, meaning members will meet contractual obligations but will not work outside of the contract.
“Anything that was voluntarily being done by the teachers before or after the school day has been stopped,” Watson said.
For instance, the archery club guided by teachers Mike Hamed and Rob Jenkins will not be attending the state competition, Watson said.
According to the district, those voluntary activities include chess club, pep band, Arts Alive, RES STEAM Night, Title I Night of The Stars, Dungeons and Dragons, The Future is Mine (and related trips), weight room at the Multi-Plex, Game Changer Sports Ministry and morning, afternoon and enrichment activities including tutoring and peer tutoring.
Teachers in the district put the district on notice Monday that they intend to strike starting March 13 if there’s not a new contract in place.
The union, which has 159 members including teachers and education specialists, has been working without a contract since June 30, 2019, though contract talks began in January of last year.
“My anticipation is we will get a successor agreement. I want both sides to sit down to negotiate. This is not what we, the BVAEA wanted and we’re sorry it came to this,” Watson told the Mon Valley Independent this week.
There has not been a strike in the district since the 1988-89 school year.
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