Today we met with district negotiators at the Bureau of Mediation Services. We don't have much to report - the district moved a small amount on language items, but not at all on the economic package. We did schedule another day for mediation on Wednesday, November 25th. Normally, we don't meet on days when we don't have school, but we want to do what we can to avoid problems with the January 15th deadline*.
Your Negotiators - Paul, Sandy, Vicki, LeMoyne, David, Gary, and Julie
* Districts that are not settled with their teachers by January 15th face fines levied by the state. In Anoka-Hennepin's case, those fines could be nearly $2 million. We have provisions in AHEM bylaws that require a certain amount of time for member notification and hearings before a contract vote, so people can make an informed decision. As a result, we actually need to have a tentative agreement by the beginning of winter break to make that deadline.
