Negotiations between the Penn Hills School District and the Penn Hills Education Support Professionals Association are continuing after the school board rejected a fact-finder report and proposal during the May 27 school board meeting.
According to Chrissy Cortazzo, the UniServe representative for Penn Hills, union members’ contract expired in July 2025 and negotiations have gone on for over a year. The union represents 84 education support employees, including secretaries, paraprofessionals, nurses, service aides and computer technicians.
As negotiations began to stall, the union requested a Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board fact-finding report, a nonbinding document issued by a neutral third party after bargaining stalls. It summarizes evidence, compares offers and makes formal recommendations for a fair settlement to help both sides reach an agreement.
While the board voted to reject the proposal, union members voted to accept it later the same evening.
Annie Briscoe, western region advocacy coordinator for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said a fact-finding report is not commonly utilized during negotiations. She said it also is rare to have one rejected during negotiations since it’s meant to be written from a nonpartisan standpoint.
“It really does pull a true compromise from a third party,” Briscoe said.
The report, obtained by TribLive, covered various negotiation topics such as wages, benefits, leaves of absence and other matters.
The most prominent point of debate for union members, Cortazzo said, has been wage increases.
“We were able to prove through the fact finder that it is a willingness issue not an ability issue to pay these employees,” Cortazzo claimed.
The union asked for a 5% increase annually. The district is offering 4%.
Cortazzo said in March 2025 the district agreed to give teachers a 3.6% raise over four years. She said while support staff is lobbying for over 1% higher than that, the average educator salary at the district is more than double what an average support staff member makes.
The fact-finding report recommended a 4.2% increase for the first three years and a 4.5% bump for the fourth. The report also suggested an increase from $750 to $1,000 per semester. The report proposed these wages be reotroactive to June 1, 2025.
Chelsea Dice, the district’s solicitor and named spokesperson for the district on the fact-finding report, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“This is what bargaining is,” Cortazzo said. “It’s when you compromise to reach a goal.”
Only five of nine board members were present for the vote on May 27. Board members Joe Capozoli, Erin Vecchio, Nicole Richardson, Jackie Blakey-Tate and Heather Broman voted to reject the proposal. Board members Devon Goetze, Dawn Golden, Reginald Hickman and Robert Marra were absent from the meeting.
Union members and the district officials both have 10 days from June 2 to reconsider the report and vote again.