Claremont
Chairman Brian Rapp said on Thursday that he met with the representatives of the teachers union as well as some Stevens teachers and it was agreed to return to the so-called “4 by 4 block schedule” but also keep the academic intervention (flex) period within the school day. The flex time was part of a new class schedule format approved and implemented by the school district last November that was later found to be in violation of the collective bargaining agreement with the union.
“We basically agreed to keep the flex and go back to the 4 by 4,” Rapp said. “We think it (flex) is a big benefit and was working.”
Flex, which will be held the final class period of the day, allows for one on one intervention with students who are struggling in a particular subject. Under the old block schedule, flex was after school but not well attended because students had other commitments or lacked transportation.
At the Aug. 3 School Board meeting, Rapp along with board Vice Chairman Chris Irish and Michelle Pierce were defiant in their refusal to accept two decisions by an independent arbitrator that were backed up by the New Hampshire Public Employees Labor Relations Board declaring the new schedule violated the union contract. When it appeared the board would vote 4-3 to accept the decisions by the arbitrator, it instead voted to table the issue and agreed to meet with union representatives. But it also voted to challenge the labor board ruling at the state Supreme Court level.
Tammy-Lynn Yates, president of the Sugar River Education Association, said in an email Thursday that the union is pleased with the agreed-upon schedule but not with the board’s decision to continue pursuing the matter in the courts.
“We appreciated that the school board sat down with SREA members to come to a resolution for the 16-17 school year,” Yates wrote. “The SREA hopes that the Claremont School Board will reconsider its decision to go to the Supreme Court. Further litigation will only cause everyone to live under a cloud of uncertainty for months, if not years. Both sides need to put the scheduling dispute behind us so that we can all move forward and focus on our mission of educating the students of Claremont.”
Board member Brent Ferland, one of the four members who appeared ready on Aug. 3 to vote to return to the old schedule, said Thursday he agreed it is board’s authority to set the schedule but the contract, with a side agreement that includes the (4 by 4) block schedule, is clear.
“It should be the authority of the board but my feeling is we have to respect the contract,” Ferland said.
At the beginning of the last school year, the schedule was changed from four classes that meet every day for a semester to classes that meet on alternative days for an entire year. The new “A/B” schedule was approved by a scheduling committee, that included faculty, but opposed by the teachers at the high school. When the School Board voted to implement it, the legal challenges began and led to two decisions in June 2015 and April this year by the arbitrator who sided with the union. But the School Board refused to abide by those decisions, stating that setting the schedule was exclusively its authority as defined under state law.
In July, the labor board found the school district’s actions constituted an unfair labor practice and ordered it to put the old schedule back in place.
Asked if the current negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement would remove the block schedule side agreement, Rapp said the most pressing issue is finding more money for salaries to retain good teachers.
“Our major concern is getting the teachers a pay raise,” Rapp said.
Ferland, who is not on the negotiating committee, said he believes they want to get the block schedule side agreement out of the contract.
“Whether they can do that, I don’t know. I’m sure they would have to give something back,” Ferland said.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
