District and union negotiators spent the bulk of a bargaining session on Oct. 11 debating a proposal that would add 10 minutes of transition time to the school day for all teachers and three 30-minute collaboration periods each week, and how those minutes should be paid.

The district presenter (Staff member, Speaker 5) outlined the proposal and the pay treatment: "we would move the base to 51 1 80, and that would include adding 10 minutes to the day for that transition time. ... That would be built into the salary schedule. ... And I know, originally, we had talked about trying to, ask for 5 days, on that. And I think you guys worked 4 days, your offer. We would ... ask for 3 days of 30 minutes collab time at the end of the day." The presenter said the 10 minutes would be built into the base salary and the 30 minutes would be listed separately on the contract and paid from at-risk funds: "10 payable out of the general fund and 30 payable out of average fund."

Why it matters: negotiators said the change is intended to regularize teacher collaboration time districtwide, but union members raised questions about whether the offered base increase covers the added work and how the change would affect extracurriculars, student supervision and employees with childcare needs.

Most important facts

- The district proposed raising the base salary to $51,180 from the current $49,025 (figures discussed in session) and adding a 10-minute transition to each school day; three 30-minute collaboration sessions per week would also be added, paid as a separate line item. The district presenter said the 10 minutes would be included in the base and the 30 minutes paid separately.

- The district framed the overall cost as a combined raise plus pay-for-time package. On the spreadsheet the parties reviewed, the district said the total cost of the combined package was roughly $1.48 million (district calculation presented in session); district staff said the added time portion represented a substantial share of that amount and estimated the pure cost to purchase the added minutes at roughly $675,000 (numbers shown and discussed in session).

- Union representatives and teachers asked detailed logistical questions about child pickup and supervision at elementary schools, after-school tutoring and athletic practices. A teacher at Delaware elementary (identified in the transcript) said dismissal procedures can regularly take longer than 10 minutes: "So it's it's a lot longer process ... we're out there till 03:30 ish." The district acknowledged those practical concerns and said principals, coaches and staff would need to work out local supervision plans: "we would have to have those conversations, coming up if this was something that was approved to make sure that everybody was on the same page with how the logistics of that would work." (Staff member, Speaker 5)

Supporting details and context

Union members pressed whether the district had priced the proposal in two ways — paying for time first then adding a cost-of-living adjustment versus building a new base that included the time — and how the district arrived at its summary cost. The district walked through its spreadsheet on the record and repeatedly said step/column movement and the added minutes both factor into the total cost: "you can't just take the base and add x percent on it because of your step and column movements." (Staff member, Speaker 5)

Teachers also raised concerns about incidental consequences: coaches and after-school activities would start after the 30-minute collaboration time, potentially extending practice end times; parents who pick up students could be affected; and adjunct or long-term substitute staff might experience different consequences. A classroom teacher asked about support for students who need after-school tutoring or who receive teacher-assigned detentions, noting the limited transition window for handling discipline or after-school help.

Where things stand and next steps

Negotiators paused to caucus and scheduled follow-up work. The district and union said salary and supplementals remained the primary open items; the team agreed to reconvene (the parties discussed returning on the 13th in the transcript) for more number-crunching. The district also warned of an impending severe storm and agreed to shorten the session.

Ending

Neither side finalized a full agreement on salary and collaboration time during the session. The transcript records detailed line-item cost questions, logistical concerns about supervision and extracurriculars, and an agreement to caucus and return to salary and supplemental discussions at a later date.