Mediation Continues as Union Reps Speak Out Against Schedule

Officials representing the Troy Education Association in ongoing negotiations with Troy School District administration to settle a contract for teachers are expected to be out of class on Friday.

Their absence is not on account of illness or sabbatical, rather, it is to participate in mediation. Boulan Park Middle School teacher Cindy Shankin spoke out against the date and time selected at the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday night, following a planned picket outside of Athens High School.

"We dread explaining to our students that they have a substitute teacher because I'm on committee the next day," said Shankin, who is listed as the TEA Vice President on the union's website. "I want my parents to know that Mrs. Shankin does not have poor attendance."

Jasen Witt, the district's Assistant Superintendent Human Resources, said that two prior mediation sessions were held during the school day with another planned on Friday. He implied that the date and time are not deliberately chosen to keep teachers out of class, rather, based on the schedules of a spectrum of participants.

"Scheduling these sessions can be a challenge based on the schedules of the different parties involved, including the mediator's," Witt said. "We have suggested to the mediator that it might be beneficial to meet with a smaller contingent of people who didn't need a sub to get out of the classroom because of the important role that all of these (teachers) in the audience play in students' lives."