Collaboration and Negotiations

Greetings! LNEA has entered into a commitment to collaboration with district leadership. Board members, central office staff and LNEA leadership are committed to finding the best possible way to work together toward the common goal of school improvement. Dr. Harris, in her statement regarding the leadership qualities we are looking for in our administration, has said, “It is important to me that our building leaders can build relationships with our staff and students and that their main mission is to help teachers and students grow. We want to build a family and create a culture where our staff and students feel valued. We want our teachers to feel that our leaders are here to help them grow instructionally to improve student achievement.” And, she has asked for further input from staff regarding specific leadership qualities. Additionally, LNEA leadership and Dr. Harris have signed a document, “Commitment to Collaboration,” that states: “We believe the most effective way to improve student achievement in USD #453 is through collaborative efforts. Positive leadership at all levels in the district minimizes conflict and fosters collaboration which in turn improves student achievement and the general health of our district. We wish to collaboratively pursue creative ways to address empowerment and improvement of staff, especially training in collaborative decision making through Partners in Collaboration – Kansas (PICK), a support for interest-based bargaining.” In addition to committing to collaboration in this formal way, the school board recently voted to endorse this training. We see a firm commitment from board members to support interest-based bargaining this spring. We are looking forward to the training in this method of bargaining, which will take place at the board office on Saturday, March 6. We believe this training will allow us to approach negotiations in a collaborative, rather than a potentially divisive, positional posture.

Negotiations: Notice letters for negotiations were exchanged on February 1, as required by law. LNEA opened 4 articles: Duration, Salary, Fringe Benefits, and School Calendar. The board opened 6 articles. In addition to the opening Duration, Salary and School Calendar, they also opened Duty Day and Vertical and Lateral Movement. Obviously both teams feel the need to concentrate on financial issues this year. Please know that we will do our best to secure the most beneficial working conditions and financial situation possible, and we are confident that interest-based bargaining is the best way of achieving this.