School District, Teacher's Union Begin Informal Negotiations

In an effort to avoid protracted teacher negotiations during the budget development process, the Katonah-Lewisboro district administration and the teacher's association have entered a brief period of "informal talks" to attempt to reach a successor contract to the current teacher agreement, which expires June 2011.

Unlike formal negotiations, these informal conversations do not include attorneys and state union representatives.

In a joint statement posted to the district website on Oct. 21, Sandy Grebinar, association president, and Dr. Robert Roelle, superintendent of schools, said "if an early settlement could not be reached in just a few meetings, formal negotiations would commence—possibly by late November, early December."

Specific negotiation goals were not mentioned in the statement. Both Grebinar and Roelle (through his office staff) said that they could not comment beyond the press statement.

School board president Michael Gordon said it would be premature to share their goals for the negotiations, but said it was a positive step that they had notified the public that they were communicating.

"The board of education was really pleased that they could put out a joint statement about the talks," he told Patch. "It's no secret that relations were strained last spring."

Failed negotiations between the school district and the teacher's union last year included a board request in January for a teacher salary freeze—rejected by the union—and an aborted attempt to re-open talks in April. In May, the union brought a proposal to the board that included a salary rebate and a proposal to increase their health care contributions. That proposal was not seen by the board due to the union's request for private negotiations and the board's desire to maintain transparency with the public.

The school board and the association membership, according to the joint statement, must approve any agreement reached through the informal talks.

In their statement, both parties said that an early settlement could have a positive impact on the district.

"The teachers recognize the severity of the fiscal crisis and believe that an early settlement would enhance conversations about teaching and learning without the distraction of negotiations," said Grebinar.

Roelle added that an agreement "would enable the district to develop the school budget with contractual obligations defined."