Board Approves Contract in Unanimous Vote

“We will not deficit spend.”

“We will not cut programs.”

“We will not create a situation where we need to go for another education fund referendum.”

Those were promises the school board made at the beginning of these contract negotiations and President Shawn Green reminded the public of those statements when he spoke shortly before the vote to approve the new teacher contract took place on Monday night.

Bongo is happy with the contract and hopes the teachers in the HEA are happy too. It appears to be a fair contract that compensates the teachers for their work while protecting the taxpayers.

Green made another statement Monday night that stuck with Bongo:

“This experience has strengthened the board’s stance that negotiations should be open, if not to the entire public, at least to the full union membership.”

Many board members echoed Green’s sentiments and said many of the issues that arose as a result of the closed negotiations would have been avoided if the negotiations had not been held behind closed doors. Green was of course speaking of the “he-said, she-said” nature of the negotiations where the public and teachers were left to decide for themselves who was telling the truth and who was full of doo doo.

Each of the board members also said the strike was not necessary and pointed to the Last, Best and Final Offer and what was ultimately approved, and said that minuscule amount of negotiating ground could have most definitely been covered with the kids still in school.

However, Bongo now considers the issue to be officially closed. His only hope is that all those involved, whether they be BOE members, union negotiators, teachers or taxpayers, learn from this experience and that the process goes much more smoothly next time.