At a morning meeting on December 8th, the RBEA teachers’ union voted to allow its executive board members to begin discussions with the school board regarding modifying the teachers’ current contract.

Union President Dave Monti said, “As with last year’s offer, the RBEA leadership felt it was necessary to try and be a part of the solution in terms of the district’s current financial situation. As everyone knows, a large group of intelligent and dedicated people with varied experiences and backgrounds can come up with many possible solutions to a problem. The entire membership overwhelmingly supported the leadership’s idea to open discussions about next year’s salary schedule and the future.”

Specific decisions about the negotiations have not yet been made, and as there are no solid details.  Neither the board nor the RBEA made public comment regarding what would or would not be negotiated.

“Initial plans and ideas should come from the Board’s negotiations team as they are the ones that set the budget within which the District must fiscally operate. When the discussions begin and they share their ideas with us, hopefully a course of action that is mutually beneficial and acceptable to both the District and the RBEA will be reached,” said Monti.

In a previous interview with the Clarion, Monti indicated that the RBEA leadership had been meeting on a monthly basis with Superintendent Kevin Skinkis and School Board President Sinde in what both sides referred to as “communications meetings.”

In a joint press release, Skinkis and Sinde confirmed that the RBEA’s action followed several months of preliminary negotiations.

Skinkis and Sinde also stated that these discussions do not obligate either the Board of the Union to modify the contract.

As a next step, Sinde will recommend to the Board at the December 13th meeting that they authorize the meeting approved by RBEA.