(Chelsea Update would like to thank the Chelsea Education Association for the information in this story.)
Though there is still no contract between the Chelsea School District and the Chelsea Education Association (CEA) “you’d never know it in the classroom,” says CEA president and high school band director Rick Catherman in a press release.
According to the CEA press release, “Our members are doing an excellent job of focusing on our students during their teaching and planning time. We are committed to providing the same excellent education our children deserve, and that the Chelsea community has come to expect.”
The next official step in the bargaining process is fact finding, with a hearing currently scheduled for March 5.
The procedure begins with each side gathering documents and exhibits to share in a public hearing, run by a state-appointed fact finder, according to co-lead negotiator for the CEA and middle school math teacher Loren Thorburn.
At the fact finding hearing, both sides present witnesses and exhibits to the fact finder in an effort to show why their position is reasonable. The fact finder will ultimately issue an opinion on what he/she believes is a reasonable resolution to the matter.
“We have been bargaining with the school district since March of 2014,” Thorburn says in the press release. “By the time the hearing takes place, we will have put in a full year trying to reach an agreement. And that doesn’t include discussion of health care options, which began in November of 2013.”
As a result of the union’s desire to find a reasonable agreement sooner than later, meetings between the lead negotiators on both sides have resumed in recent weeks. “We hope to continue to have open communications between now and the March 5 hearing,” Catherman says.
