PEDRO -- School starts in about a month in Lawrence county, and one school employees' union wants information about who will work where, and when, and how.

Gene Adams, president of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE) local 252, which serves about 80 Rock Hill School District employees, hand delivered a written request Tuesday evening to the school board, asking for a meeting to discuss the jobs at the new consolidated elementary school.

The union wants to negotiate how jobs are filled, according to its contract with the board.

"Nothing's being done," Adams said. "That's what we're concerned about. We'd like to see where employees will be working. We're into July now, and school starts in August and we don't know where the positions are that we can bid on.

"That's all we want. We don't know who's going to cook what, we don't know who's going to clean what and we don't know who's going to drive where."

Adams said bus drivers in particular would like to know as soon as possible what their new routes will be so they can become familiar with it before they have to drive it with a bus load of kids.

During an often tense exchange, Superintendent Lloyd Evans told Adams that the issue should not be discussed openly in a board meeting.

Evans said the district has a committee that is supposed to meet quarterly to handle these matters.

"There has been no request for such a meeting," Evans said. "This will be addressed at the next board meeting since you submitted this in writing."

It is the district's policy to answer written letters in this fashion, he added.

Adams reminded Evans that when he had spoken with him earlier about the matter, Evans had told him to put his concerns on paper.

He declined a suggestion that he meet with the board in an executive session to discuss the matter.

"We have good employees ready to work," Adams said. "We're proud of our schools, we have great new buildings and we want to go to work. We just want to know where we'll be working."

Board member Wanda Jenkins asked Evans when four custodial positions would be posted. She had also asked about these positions at a previous board meeting.

"There are three 12-month jobs and one 9-month job all open," Jenkins said. "Those jobs need to be posted."

OAPSE covers all non-certified school personnel, including bus drivers, janitors, secretaries and cooks. Teresa Moore/The Ironton Tribune