THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2008
Dist. 207 Talks 'Slow But Steady'
By DWIGHT ESAU
Journal Reporter
One of the major reasons that negotiations for a new contract between the Maine Teachers Union (MTA) and High School District 207 are so protracted, is that the union requested that virtually all sections of the lengthy document be reviewed and discussed this year.
This has not been done in recent years, and the process is taking significant amounts of additional time, according to board president Joann Braam.
"The union wanted to look at everything in the contract and discuss updates and revisions that might be needed," Braam said. "We agreed. Our discussions remain cordial, but it's taking a lot of additional time to cover all of the areas and hammer out agreements on a lot of new language."
In another recent development, the union is in the process of electing new officers, and Braam said the board negotiating team was recently informed that Emma Visee, a special education teacher at several district schools, has taken over as interim union president from Jose Arguello, former president who is a Spanish teacher at Maine South.
Efforts by the Journal to reach Visee this week were unsuccessful, primarily because it is spring break week and teachers are not in schools.
"We are continuing to meet regularly and are making slow but steady progress toward getting everything resolved," Braam said this week. "Sub-groups of the negotiating teams for both sides were scheduled to meet this week, and the regular sessions will resume next week."
The former three-year contract between the MTA and the school board expired last summer. Negotiations for a new contract began in February, 2007, and have continued steadily, on a monthly and sometimes weekly, basis, ever since.
A few weeks ago, the union submitted a salary increase proposal, but it is not known if it has been discussed to any significant degree yet.
The board of education has scheduled a special meeting for 7 a.m. next Thursday, Apr. 3, so negotiators can bring the entire board up to date on the status of the talks.
In a related matter this week, the board will hold another special meeting, tentatively set for 3:30 p.m. next Tuesday. Apr. 1, in the principal's office at Maine East High School. It is the final one of three recent meetings in each of the three district high schools to tour each facility and gather information on possible renovation projects to be scheduled in the near future. These sessions are held annually to determine facility needs.