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Residents and staff urge Ross board to negotiate a fair teacher contract amid retention concerns
Summary
Multiple parents, teachers and students told the board that Ross teachers lag neighboring districts in pay and step progression, asked the board to present a fair contract, and warned that unresolved negotiations could lead to strikes and teacher departures.
Several Ross community members used the public-comment period to press the board for a more competitive teacher contract, citing comparative salary surveys and experience-based step differences with nearby districts.
Ava Bosse, a Ross High School senior, thanked teachers for providing support and said she plans to remain in Ross because of them. "Teachers don't just teach content, they teach people," she said.
Parent and educator Angie Kroger, who described herself as a 25-year educator now living in Ross, said many Ross teachers have taken pay freezes and that the district's experienced teachers are near the bottom of regional pay scales. Kroger asked the board to present a fair contract now: "We demand that our teachers be respected, heard, and supported. Please present them with a fair contract now," she said.
Parent Abby Sherwood cited a salary survey covering 30 Cincinnati-area districts and said Ross offers the lowest base salary of the group and stops salary-step advancement at year 18, producing a sizable gap with neighboring districts. "This discrepancy equates to the following differences in an ending max salary compared to Ross," Sherwood said, listing specific district comparisons and dollar differentials presented during her remarks.
Emily LaValle, an elementary teacher in another district, and community member Tony Greco reinforced those points, noting past pay freezes and the Ross Education Association's recent unfair-labor-practice filing. Greco warned that protracted failure to reach a fair contract might lead to strike action and urged residents to contact Dr. Rice and the board on behalf of teachers.
The board did not take immediate action on teacher-contract demands during the meeting. Later in the agenda the board approved superintendent recommendations that included updated support staff salary schedules (moving support staff to a 25-step schedule with base increases) and approved block treasurer items; public commenters and at least one speaker urged that teacher negotiations remain a district priority.
