Board of Education Update 9.14.12

September 14, 2012

 

We would like to update you on the following:  
         

The Board of Education and the Union were unable to reach agreement today. The Board submitted a last, best offer at 10:00 am this morning. Over the course of the day, many discussions occurred, but by 4:20 p.m., the Union had not submitted its last, best offer. At that point the mediator suspended the discussions. Board representatives are available to receive the Union's last, best offer.

The Board has offered to defer the two-tier salary schedule to a faculty and board committee to come to a consensus and agreed to phase in the HMO insurance change. The Union is still demanding salary increases of 5 to 6.5% per year.

We have excellent teachers and we want to see them where they belong - back in the classroom with our students.

We remain deeply disappointed with the Union leaders' unrealistic salary expectations.Our offer keeps us highly competitive and fiscally responsible to the community we serve. The only ones adversely impacted as a result of this conduct are our students.   

Re-Opening of Schools on Monday

• We will be opening school Monday as a mandatory student attendance day. A full day of instructional programming will be offered to our students.  
          
• The Board of Education would like to reaffirm to our faculty that they have the right to participate in a strike by not coming to work. However, they also have a right to not participate in a strike and report to work. This choice is entirely up to each individual, and the District will not discipline anyone for making either choice. Faculty members are welcome to return to work on Monday. We have reactivated faculty email to deliver this message.  
           
• Effective Monday, due to the fact that school will be opening to all students, there will be no need to make up student attendance days. In short - school is back in session.     
      
• We will initially be using temporary replacement staff. We strongly believe that our children and community need our own excellent teaching professionals. That said, we deeply regret that we have had to authorize legal counsel to advise the Board on the issue of permanent replacement workers.

Each day the strike progresses the adverse impact on our students increases. The Board's primary goal remains the same - to serve our students.

Parent Informational Meeting

Sunday, September 16, 2012 - 2-3 pm in the Raymond Moore Auditorium. The purpose is to inform parents about the status of negotiations and provide specific details about the upcoming week.

School Opens

Monday, September 17, 2012  - Full Day of School: All students are expected to attend. Monday, a full-day academic program, 7:50am-3:10pm, will be offered to students. All students are expected to attend. Attendance will be taken, buses will be running on the regular schedule, and the day will count as a full day of school. 

Athletics

Most athletic contests are expected to resume on Monday, but check the Athletics homepage for detailed information as it becomes available. 

Please continue to check our homepage for updates. We thank you once again for your patience. Be assured we continue to be focused on what is best for our students.

Sincerely,