Looking at Planning Time: Brecksville-Broadview Heights Schools Contract Negotiations

Last week, . I’ve been collecting those questions, along with topics that have been coming up on other articles and in school board meetings, and looking for the answers.

Here’s a look at one of the common topics that teachers and community members have raised: Planning time for teachers.

What is it?

Teachers have time planned into their daily schedules to do a variety of activities, such as prepare lessons, work with students or collaborate with other educators.

During this round of negotiations, teachers have expressed concern over the cuts proposed by the school board.

What did the last contract say?

The last contract required 400 minutes of planning time per week for teachers and 315 minutes of planning time per week for elementary or intermediate teachers. Elementary school counselors, psychologists at all levels and speech/language pathologists at all levels were also guaranteed 315 minutes of planning time per week.

teachers didn’t have a specified number of minutes per week, but rather, had “an assigned non-curricular duty” in addition to their six class assignments and homeroom. That didn’t change in either the school board or the teachers union proposal.

What does the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Board of Education’s proposal say?

The board’s proposal would cut planning time for middle school teachers, elementary or intermediate teachers, elementary school counselors, psychologists at all levels and speech/language pathologists at all levels to 200 minutes per week.

Board President David Tryon didn’t want to comment on the specifics of the proposals, as . “Given that these topics are very sensitive and likely will be addressed in these negotiations, we would prefer to avoid public comment at this time in order to give these negotiations the best chance possible to resolve the situation,” he said in an email.

, Tryon told the public that all proposed language changes were made to encourage flexibility, and that mandating planning time is a financial issue.

What does the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association’s proposal say?

The association’s proposal would keep the 400 minutes per week for middle school teachers and raise the requirement to 400 minutes per week for elementary or intermediate teachers, elementary school counselors, psychologists at all levels and speech/language pathologists at all levels, too.

The association bargaining team said this was done to try to get the same amount of planning time for educators at all grade levels.

The former contract and both contract proposals can be found on the district’s Negotiation News website.