Teachers Union Contract Talks Go to Arbitration

Contract negotiations between the Monroe Education Association, which is the teachers union, and the school district reached a stalemate, so an arbitration hearing must be had by Oct. 8.

Then a new contract will be sent to the Town Council to take action or to let time ratify it, according to Gabriella DiBlasi, finance director for Monroe Public Schools.

DiBlasi had updated the Board of Finance on the negotiations at its last meeting.

When reached on Monday, MEA Co-President Carol Solheim politely declined to comment on the negotiations.

At the Board of Finance meeting, DiBlasi also shared a positive report on medical claims, which fell from $1.5 million paid out last year to $1.2 million this fiscal year.

"I think there's a good story with the medical in the way that it's trending," Supt. of Schools Colleen Palmer said.

The Board of Education also saved $120,000 in workman's compensation by joining in a pool with town employees, giving the district a better rate.

In other financial news, Monroe Public Schools received $384,000 in federal stimulus funds for jobs.

Several Board of Education members had said they wanted the money to be used to hire teachers and reduce class sizes, but Palmer believes adding classes at this point in the school year would be too disruptive for students.

She instead plans to use about half the money to increase hours for specialists and support staff to make it easier for teachers to manage larger classes.

The federal government allows school districts to carry over unused funds to the next fiscal year, Palmer explained.