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West Shore teachers rally for contract negotiations

LEWISBERRY, Pa – Dozens of teachers lined Fishing Creek Road in Lewisberry on Thursday to get people’s attention. The West Shore School District tea...

LEWISBERRY, Pa - Dozens of teachers lined Fishing Creek Road in Lewisberry on Thursday to get people's attention.

The West Shore School District teachers are holding  signs to tell people in York and Cumberland counties many employees at the district are working without a contract and have been for two years.

Kevin Downs is a science teacher in the district, he's also the West Shore Education Association president.

"We understand the district's position on things, but we also think some of the things they're asking for don't make sense for us."

Downs says one bargaining issue is the so-called Cadillac tax

That tax means if employee benefits exceed a certain amount, the school district would have to pay the difference.

He also believes the district has not been prepared in negotiations.

"All the energy that were putting forth into bargaining, both on our side and on the district's side for that matter, is taking away from energy that should be spent in the classroom with our students."

The rally was right before the West Shore school board meeting.

Contract negations were not on the agenda at the meeting and school board members would not answer any of our questions about the rally or teacher negations.

The board did say it will post a frequently asked questions page on the West Shore district's website on Friday about the contract negotiations.

The education association says teachers are not planning to strike right now, instead they want to focus on negotiating.

No negotiation sessions are scheduled.

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