Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for March 19, 1998 School Board Meeting

The Cairo Board of Education held its regular March meeting last night.

On the negotiations front . . . Members of the CAT bargaining team went to last night's meeting, although we were still not sure we were welcome. As reported in the last CAT Tracks, we had sent a letter on March 12th requesting the opportunity to speak to the full Board in closed session. This was done because their team had indicated on March 10th that they did NOT have the authority to negotiate . When we received no response, we sent a reminder on March 17th. Yesterday morning--the day of the Board meeting--we received a "response" from Superintendent Bonifield: "The letter in which you request to meet with the full board has been passed on to board members." More stalling tactics!

We addressed the Board during the "Visitors" section and told them that the time for games was long over--that it was time to negotiate! We repeated our request to meet with them during closed session. They STILL would not commit, stating that they needed to talk about it first--in closed session. Your team waited patiently in the hallway for over an hour. Finally, we were allowed to enter closed session and speak with the Board.

Nothing substantial was accomplished, but we were able to present our message to the full Board and to clarify some issues. We reminded the Board of our commitment for bringing back activity teachers at the elementary level--too late for this year, but feasible for the coming years. We also made it very clear to the Board that we must have a contract--THIS YEAR !

The two teams have agreed to meet again on Friday night at 5:15 p.m. for a negotiations session. It is OUR hope that progress can be made so that next week's mediation session will either not be necessary or will be the occasion of a final agreement.

No matter what happens from here on out, the Cairo Association of Teachers can state unequivocally that we have gone the extra mile to bring labor peace to Cairo School District Number One.

On a more positive note . . .Last night's meeting was the annual "hiring and/or firing meeting".

GOOD NEWS!!! All bargaining unit members of the Cairo Association of Teachers--and the CAESP--were rehired for the 1998-99 School Year.