AB School Committee violates policy in union contract approval

The AB Regional School Committee (SC) violated a commitment to allow for meaningful public input prior to approving the new three-year teacher's agreement with the Acton Education Association (AEA).

Last June, 2013, when contract negotations between the SC and AEA had been going on for several months, Acton Forum editors Allen Nitschelm (the writer of this article) and Charlie Kadlec renewed their request for a public review period prior to the SC's vote. This resulted in the SC discussing the issue, checking with legal counsel, and issuing a policy that would somewhat meet Nitschelm and Kadlec's demands.

Without specifying a two-week time frame as requested, the School Committee, through its Chairman, Maria Neyland, agreed to post all relevant information about the proposed new union contracts in advance, so "the public will then have time to review the information and provide comment at the public meeting."

"We have reviewed your request, and we can agree to the following process: Once we reach at tentative agreement with a bargaining unit, the agreement will go to the bargaining unit for a ratification vote. Once it is approved, we will schedule and post a public School Committee meeting to discuss and vote the proposal. Before that meeting we will post a public packet of information which will include a summary of the proposal," Neyland wrote.

No information prior to the May 22, 2014 School Committee meeting related to the specifics of the AEA contract was posted in advance as promised....

Article continues on www.ActonForum.com at:

http://www.actonforum.com/blogs/allenn/ab-school-committee-violates-policy-union-contract-approval