Lexington’ Board of Education met for a regular meeting on Wednesday, September 17, where numerous teachers dressed in red showed support for the negotiation process.
According to Ohio Education Association Labor Relations Consultant Diedri Kennedy, negotiations between the Lexington Teachers Association (LTA) and Lexington’s school board began in June of 2014. The teachers’ contract expired on August 31, 2014.
“Right now we’re engaged in traditional bargaining, which both sides prepare initial proposals. We bring them and exchange them and just kind of bargain back and forth based on those proposals,” explained Kennedy.
She said the duration of the bargaining process depends on the issues at hand. Sometimes it takes two days, but sometimes it takes longer.
“We’ve been here since June,” said Kennedy.
The next mediation session, which is private, is on September 24.
Spokesperson for the LTA Sarah Freundlich said they attended the board of education’s meeting to show support for the negotiation process because they want the best for Lexington’s students.
“We want the best for this place. We believe in it; we’ve put our blood, sweat and tears in it. We’re with these kids everyday, and we want them to have every opportunity for their future,” said Freundlich.
“So in order to do that, we have to be able to recruit the best and brightest educators, we need to be able to retain experienced professionals we have, and we have to be able to work in an environment that is collaborative and nurturing so we can inspire the children to make it to their full potential,” she added.
During Lexington’s Board of Education meeting, the board heard from Senior Representative Joel Nirmalnath. He said the school is off to a great start as he reported on a variety of school and extracurricular activities.
In other items, Lexington will host their Homecoming dance this year in the high school’s gymnasium, which is, according to Nirmalnath, the first in many years. In years prior, the school met at the Richland County fairgrounds for the dance. This year’s dance will take place October 4.
The board’s only discussion topic was that of calamity days.
“The state changed this year from having populated the length of time of schools from days to hours. There’s a minimum of hours established for K(indergarten) through 6(th grade) and another one for 7(th grade) to 12(th grade),” said Superintendent Mike Ziegelhofer.
The board decided that they will vote on a decision concerning their district’s policy on calamity days during next month’s regular meeting. Ziegelhofer agreed to prepare alternative policies so the board could make an educated decision.
Lexington’s next board meeting is scheduled for October 22 at 7 p.m. at 103 Clever Lane, Lexington Ohio. For minutes of past meetings, visit the district’s website.
“We want the best for this place. We believe in it; we’ve put our blood, sweat and tears in it. We’re with these kids everyday, and we want them to have every opportunity for their future,” said Freundlich.
