Farmington School Board Set to Vote on Teacher Union Contracts

Farmington School Board members have called a special meeting Wednesday at 6 p.m. to vote on a negotiated contract with the Farmington Education Association (FEA).

FEA members are expected to vote on the tentative 2-year agreement earlier that day. Details of the agreement will remain under wraps until they are approved, school and union officials said.

Negotiations started in mid-June and ended Aug. 24, which is a typical window, Farmington Schools Assistant Superintendent David Ruhland said. Both he and FEA president David Workman agreed things went a bit more quietly this time around.

School officials and support services unions approved contracts earlier this year, after contentious negotiations and an exploration of privatizing those services. Nutrition, custodial and transportation employees made significant concessions in wages and benefits in order to achieve a savings of nearly 75 percent of the savings outsourcing would have achieved.

This time around, even some teachers noticed how quiet things were, Workman said.

"It happened during the summer, so there was less attention brought to it," he added, "and we were making progress every time we got together ... There's a different feeling when you know you're not lost, and you're not miles away."

Ruhland said the support services contract included talk of privatization, which drew a lot of attention – and raw, honest emotions vented during winter and spring school board meetings. While there were some equally raw moments during this round, he said, both sides quickly moved to take a step back from personalizing the situation.

"We worked hard on the front end talking about what our objectives were and the time frames," he said. "We spent a couple of days framing the work."

Both Ruhland and Workman agree the biggest challenge this year has been working under the development of legislation that will have a deep impact on teacher tenure and evaluation, as well as contributions to benefits. In July, Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law new standards that require more frequent evaluations and eases the process to fire a teacher.

Workman said a council that will further define the state's evaluation standards isn't expected to convene until 2012. He also anticipates parts of the law will be immediately challenged in court. Some of the legislation actually worked in the union's favor, and some of it in the district's – but no one knew when the new rules would be passed, and when they would apply.

"The team was hoping not to have to deal with those laws immediately," Workman said, adding it will take a great deal of work to meet the new requirements. "That's a distraction from instruction."

Ruhland and Workman said everyone was trying to craft the best plan for Farmington Schools, while still being mindful of the changes in state law. Ruhland said because of the good working relationship between the district and its teachers, "we were able to keep moving and bending as that legislation moved, so we were able to incorporate it."

He said the two sides agreed to form work groups for more than a dozen key areas "to find out how do we do this better, rather than sitting at a bargaining table ... rather than assume the people at the bargaining table have all the answers."

Workman said he feels good about the agreement. He said some tough decisions were made, understanding that while the district may be in good health – as the union sees it – what's going on at the state level also has to be part of the picture.

"All things considered is the mantra I'm using," he said. "It's a fair deal on all sides."

Last week, the district's top administrators agreed to cuts of 5-6 percent in wages and benefits.

At Wednesday's meeting, officials will also consider approval of salary and benefits packages for non-union employees.

The meeting is open to the public. Time is allowed at the end of the agenda for public comment.