Union and district outline new meet-and-confer process; policy committee to return draft working agreement by August

Osborn Education Association (OEA) President Storm Gerlach and district staff presented an update on the district's meet-and-confer process and policy committee work, outlining plans to formalize a working agreement and reconstitute policy and budget committees with broader staff representation.

Committee composition and process: Gerlach and district staff said the revised committee will include four representatives appointed by OEA, four district-appointed representatives, and four at-large members chosen via a district-wide Google form. District staff and union leaders said they screened at-large nominations together to balance site, role and years-of-service representation.

Scope and timeline: The group said it convened several times this spring and would continue work through the summer, with the goal of presenting an initial working agreement and a set of prioritized policy changes to the board by the start of the 2025–26 school year (August). The presenters said the budget committee's recent work and recommendations were part of this broader meet-and-confer process and that some policy discussions were delayed until after the budget process to avoid timing conflicts.

Transparency and future steps: Gerlach told the board that the proposed revisions add clearer timelines, leave-request procedures and excessive-leave definitions to district policy, while district staff said policy work would continue in summer and early fall and that the first policy-committee meeting would occur early in the school year per policy timelines. Board members asked for a written working agreement and a schedule for returning policy recommendations; presenters said they would return with drafts and a calendar for board review.