Lake Central board opens formal negotiations with teachers association and invites public comment

Lake Central School Board on Monday announced the start of formal negotiations with the Lake Central Teachers Association and opened the floor for public comment on bargaining priorities, saying the public will have at least two additional opportunities to speak before a tentative agreement is presented to the board.

Board president Dr. Baraco said the district is beginning formal negotiations with the teachers’ association and opened a public-comment period for bargaining input. "We are in the process of opening formal negotiations with our teachers association," Baraco said. "Part of that process is to add a public venue, open the floor, to comments from any member of the public who wishes to provide input on what we should be negotiating in the collective bargaining agreement."

Nut graf: The board framed the added public-comment sessions as part of a multi-step negotiating timetable. The district plans to present a tentative agreement to the board within the next four to six weeks; if a tentative agreement is reached, it will return for a subsequent meeting to consider final approval. At both the tentative-agreement meeting and the final approval meeting, members of the public will be permitted to comment.

Key points from the discussion: Baraco told the board that the negotiating calendar is tentative and that insurance (health-care coverage) is a negotiable item. She said the district will begin insurance‑renewal discussions the following week and reiterated that public comment opportunities would continue through the bargaining process. She urged that the tentative agreement would come back to the board and then later be placed on an agenda for final approval.

Public input: At the meeting the board opened the floor for comment; the transcript records no members of the public stepping forward at that time. Baraco said, "I don't see anybody stepping up. So again, this is not the only opportunity you have to comment. You can also comment at any public meeting ... but most importantly, somewhere in the next 4 to 6 weeks, it will be on the agenda for tentative agreement and then for final approval by the board."

Process and timeline: The board clarified that after tentative agreement, the item "still sits until the following board meeting when it will get formally approved," meaning tentative agreement will be presented at one meeting and final approval will be considered at a subsequent meeting. The board also indicated that insurance renewals (health care) will be part of negotiable subjects to be discussed with the teachers’ association.

Ending: The board did not take any formal bargaining actions at the meeting beyond opening the negotiations and inviting public comment; it established a near-term timeline for tentative agreement and final approval and instructed staff to begin insurance-renewal discussions as part of the bargaining process.