Following the granting of recognition to an organization to represent an employee unit, the Board, through its designated representatives, will meet with the representatives of the organization to negotiate and attempt to reach agreement on matters pertaining to salaries, terms, and conditions of employment, and processing of alleged grievances.

Initiation of Negotiations

The Board will make an effort to begin negotiations well in advance of contract issuance. A written request to begin negotiations will be sent to the employee unit representatives, and reasonable time will be given to the representatives to respond to the Board’s request.

Time and Place of Negotiations

Negotiations meetings will be scheduled at times which will interfere least with school schedules and the educational program. They will be conducted at times and places mutually agreeable to the negotiators named by each party. At the first meeting, the date and location of the subsequent meeting will be scheduled, and so on. Meeting schedules will be realistic.

Conduct of Negotiations

Individual Board members cannot negotiate privately with representatives of any employee unit. Each negotiating team will be limited to a specific number of individuals determined jointly by the Board and the negotiating organization.

During negotiations, the representatives of the Board and the organizations will present relevant data, exchange points-of-view, and make proposals and counterproposals. Upon the request of either party, the other will make available for inspection its records and data pertinent to the subject of negotiations.

Formal negotiations meetings between the parties will be conducted in closed session, unless an open session is agreed upon by both parties.

It is the responsibility of each negotiations team to keep its own records of the proceedings. No electronic recording devices will be allowed by the Board.

If one party calls for a caucus, that party will move to another location for its caucus. Each party will determine which representatives may be present at its caucus.

Communications

Press releases regarding negotiations progress are the responsibility of each team. The Board will have the responsibility of communicating on a continuous basis to the community.

Reaching Agreement

All tentative agreements will be written and initialed by spokespersons of the respective negotiating teams. Agreements will be tentative until approved by the employee organization and adopted by the Board.