Wednesday, March 28, 2012

An Agreement Is Reached

Yes - you read the title correctly - yesterday's marathon session between the Swanton Board of Education negotiation team and the teachers' union (SEA) team did finally reach an agreement on the contract.  I'm not sure when the SEA team will present the contract's particulars to its membership, but once that happens and the Temporary Agreement (TA) is ratified by them, it will then go to the full school board for a vote.  Will there be a special meeting held to do this?  Not sure - but at the very latest, the school board should have it before them at their regular April meeting.

I believe a huge "thank you" belongs to those teachers who were willing to speak up to their SEA team "representatives" for what they felt was fair.  Had those brave souls remained silent, we might still be at impasse - with an implemented contract instead.  Thank You!!

Another huge "thank you" belongs to our community for learning the facts and standing firm in their resolve to not allow our board to offer what they cannot afford.  Thanks to You All!

To the people who did the negotiating for the school board, another huge "thank you" is in order.  Being held hostage by the SEA for almost a full year on this thing was not pleasant for anyone, and being able to finally say that it is DONE is a great relief to all involved.

As details of the TA are made public, I will share them here.