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Tellone: Contract talks not working
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK, Times Staff Writer BROOKSVILLE -- Superintendent Wendy Tellone dislikes the state of labor relations in the Hernando County School District. A group of teachers, upset with the district's contract offer, plans to picket the School Board during its meeting tonight. Unable to reach an accord on pay, the Hernando Classroom Teachers Association and the School Board head to mediation on Oct. 29-30. "I don't believe the process is working," Tellone said Monday. "We need to do something different." Her idea is to replace collective bargaining with collaborative bargaining, a process in which all employee groups and the administration set priorities and make compromises from a common base of information. "We need to have them work with us," Tellone said. She has suggested the idea to the teachers, but has not brought it up with the noninstructional staff or School Board members. "I'm hoping they see it as something that would work." Missy Keller, chairwoman of the teachers' "crisis committee," welcomed any effort to have the sides work together with the same information to create acceptable contracts. "I don't know that we have an adversarial approach right now, but I agree this is the kind of thing that needs to be looked at ahead of time," Keller said. She contended that the negotiations reached a standstill this year because, in the teachers' minds, the administration did not do everything possible to ensure that teachers get the best raise possible. "They kind of closed things off before we were satisfied all of the avenues were explored," Keller said. Perhaps such problems could be avoided in the future, she said, if the sides jump right into full discussions about the next contract right after the current one is settled. School Board member Sandra Nicholson was not so sure. She suggested that the district has been open in providing information all along, and it has called meetings with the teachers whenever new details have emerged. "The goal of the School Board has been, as far as I can see, to get a contract signed before the teachers came back to school in the fall," Nicholson said. "Everything just fell apart this year. I don't know what the reason is. . . . But I don't think it's the system." The teachers are part of the process, Nicholson said. But the board cannot force them to negotiate, she added, noting that the teachers walked away and declared an impasse with the district. Such problems have not plagued the Pinellas County school district since it implemented collaborative bargaining about a decade ago, said Ron Stone, associate superintendent for human resources. Instead of having unions come forth with demands for the administration to defend or refute, Stone said, the district bargains with the unions year-round on three to five priority objectives such as pay or benefits. The participants see that all decisions must be made as part of a larger whole, he said, with the financial books open to ensure there are no surprises. "We have everybody in the same room talking about the same issues," Stone said. "It really pays off big time." Tellone said she hopes to move in that direction. If she can get the parties to buy into the concept, Tellone said, she wants the new method to begin in January. -- Jeffrey S. Solochek covers education in Hernando County and can be reached at 754-6115. Send e-mail to solochek@sptimes.com.
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