Teachers, school board in disagreement; contracts go to mediation

School is out for Bonneville District 93, but the work isn’t over for teachers and school administrators.

Contract talks between the Bonneville School Board and Education Association are taking a little more time than usual.

The board and teachers can’t seem to find common ground. They’ve been negotiating the 2013-2014 contracts for some time and now they’ll have to go to mediation.

Dark hallways, empty classrooms, and uncertainty marks the start of summer break for teachers in Bonneville School District 93.

Teachers and school board representatives haven’t agreed on a master contract for the upcoming school year and the clock is ticking.

“This is something that affects everybody,” said Keith Leppert, president of the Bonneville Education Association. “Teachers are a great resource to the district.”

The education reform laws put in place from 2009-2012 only allowed teachers to negotiate salaries and benefits. But before that, teachers had input on everything from classroom sizes to tenure.

“In the past we had an old Master Agreement that would rollover and then we could make changes as we saw fit,” said Leppert. “It was all removed basically, and we’re trying to get back what we can.”

But teachers and the school board can’t agree on three points: transfer language for teachers wanting to switch schools, reduction in force for lay-offs, and the grievance procedure.

“We’ve always had a good working relationship with our school district and we feel that we still do. We’re just a little hurt that there are three things that they’re not willing to discuss with us.”

Now both sides are waiting for a federal, out-of-state mediator to hear them out and come up with a compromise.

These negotiations are open to the public. Once a meeting date is set with the mediator, we’ll let you know.

Bonneville isn’t the only district with contract woes. Idaho Falls High School will ratify teacher contracts next week.