One of the unique features of the teachers’ collective bargaining agreement with the district is the ability to have liaison meetings on timely topics between the union and the board of education. In the past several months, three of these meetings were held.
This year, a meeting for members from each school has been scheduled. The first of these meetings was held in early fall with a contingent of teachers from Lincoln Ave. Building Vice-President Melinda Moran was joined by Jen Order, Beth Bolger, Gina LoCurto and Heather Gonzalez. The second meeting addressed High School matters. HS Building VP Christine Richter-Seidenberg invited Brian Bennet, Sally Stoll DePompeo, Kevin Recker and Margie Dashiell to speak from the high school teacher perspective. Most Recently, Cherry Avenue was represented by VP Kate Enea and Geraldine Batterberry, Sue Metzler, Nicole Teufel, and Kelly Cummings. STA president Tim Southerton and VP Dawn Lloyd-Matthews and Dr. Walter Schartner attended all of the meetings.
Sunrise Drive Teachers will visit with the Board of Education in January and Middle School teachers will meet in February.
There was no set agenda during these meetings. The tone at each meeting was collegial and conversational. The representatives from each building decided what topics and viewpoint that they wanted to present. Each teacher was encouraged to speak honestly and openly about their ideas and feelings. Both teachers and board members introduced topics. Use of technology was discussed. Excessive testing, class size, budget issues and the budget process from this past spring were all also covered. Frustration with some district policies and procedures was included in the discussion. School security was reviewed at each meeting.
These meetings are generally mutually satisfying for the Board of Education and the union representatives. “Conversation is good and promotes better communication. It allows everyone to see each other as a partner in the efforts to improve instruction and make our schools safe and secure,” commented Southerton.