Schools

School Board Approves Collective Bargaining Agreement

The board unanimously approved the agreement between the district and the Mehlville National Education Association Feb. 10.

The school board voted unanimously to approve the Mehlville National Education Association (MNEA) collective bargaining agreement last week. The agreement will create a framework for annual negotiations between the board and teachers and become teachers’ “sole and exclusive” representation in negotiations.

The board will still have final say on accepting, rejecting or modifying any agreements between the teachers and the board, but now formally recognizes the MNEA as the only other representative party at the negotiating table. This agreement will be in effect until June 30 with the option of renewal. 

“What happens with teachers’ conditions equals the classroom conditions,” said Karen Torretta, president of the MNEA.

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“We wanted to cement an already good relationship so both groups could work and maintain the best possible service for the kids,” she said. Torretta is a math teacher at Oakville High School, currently in her 20th year of education.

The MNEA already represents more than 560 out of 700 teachers. With intentions of bolstering positive communication with the board, Torretta said the agreement was brought forth to help both sides understand each other’s views, both in the classroom and district-wide.

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 “On the teachers’ sides, it provides a binding agreement so that policy will not change on either side,” she said. “It would help the sense of stability for teachers.”

Now that the board has approved the agreement, the organization will hold a formal election for all teachers to choose MNEA as the sole bargaining representative. The election will be held sometime in the spring by a third-party organization.

Collective bargaining for teachers was approved in the state of Missouri in May of 2007. Two years later, then-MNEA President Kay Cappos began discussions and drafting for an agreement in Mehlville.

In April 2010, the organization put together a committee that included Superintendent Terry Noble, board member Larry Felton and several teachers to form the agreement.

Instead of writing a new proposal, Felton suggested the MNEA combine their agreement with board policy.

“Everything in this agreement comes straight from board policy—there’s nothing new in here,” said Lisa Counts, director of Human Resources.

“For us, it hasn’t been problematic to implement or draft. We took our existing policy along with the Missouri School Board Association’s best practices on collective bargaining and incorporated them together,” Counts said.

Teacher negotiations are done each year and cover all topics related to salary and welfare. MNEA can request to have shared committees to look at district programs and set salaries, step increases and channel changes for the next school year.

When the board and MNEA come to an agreement, the MNEA will relay the information to the teachers and wait for their approval. When both parties are satisfied with the agreement, the board will vote to accept or reject the singular document. 


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