T/E School Board Rejects Teacher Contract

It was an unsual vote for the members of the T/E School Board Thursday night who convened to vote on a teacher contract. The message from the school board's attorney before the vote was basically: 'We can't tell you what's in the proposed contract settlement, but we have to vote on it tonight'

The board and the teachers union were not allowed to talk about the specifics of the contract due to a complicated Pennsylvania Labor law that lets both sides vote on the report of the state-appointed fact finder before going public with the details.

The Tredyffrin-Easttown Education Association voted to accept the fact finders proposal. If the school board members had also approved the report, the deal would be done, the contract talks would be settled and the public would know the details of the deal.

Because the T/E School Board voted no on the fact finder's report, the talks continue.

Now that both sides have responded, the details will be revealed.

So, now that the School Board and the Teachers Union have told the Pennsylvania Labor Relations board how they voted, the details can be revealed.

That also means the public will have a chance to see the details of the contract that the state fact finder came up with later Friday morning.

The Board will vote again in 10 Days.

Once the public has had a chance to review the contract details as presented by the state fact finder, the school board will take another vote. That vote is set for August 20 at 8 p.m. at the T/E School District Administration offices on West Valley Road.

How will the School Board Vote next time?

Only time will tell, but the board may have given a pretty strong indication in a statement read by Board Member Kevin Buraks following Thursday night's vote. In the statement the board indicated that while there may be agreement on many points, the fact finder's report must be approved on an "all or nothing" basis. That means if the two sides agree on all but even one point, the district (or the teachers for that matter) can't say yes to all but the points they disagree on.

What Happens Now?

According to T/E School Board Attorney Jeffrey Sultanik, the State Labor Relations Board will release the fact finder's report on Friday morning. (TE Patch will post it as soon as it becomes available on line).

The public will have a chance to review and comment on the Fact Finder report at the board's next special meeting on August 20.  The board could accept or reject it at that vote. If the board approves the report then the contract is settled. If the board rejects it again, the two sides will need to go back to the negotiating table.

Teachers Union Reaction

The T/E Education Association had agreed to the Fact Finder's report prior to Thursday's meeting, so the school board vote, while probably not a big surprise, was not the result the union would have liked. The union had requested the Fact Finder report in the first place, after negotiations hit an impasse back in June.

Union President Laura Whittaker was not able to comment on the report for the same legal reasons that the board was prohibited from commenting.

Whittaker said she would be able to comment further once the report is issued on Friday.  When asked by TE Patch whether or not teachers would return to work if there is no contract before school starts Whittaker said "I can't answer that."