Geary County negotiators and teachers deadlock over Karnes alternative-school planning time; agree to committee and further talks

Geary County Schools negotiators and teachers’ representatives debated a proposed change to planning time and class periods for the Karnes alternative school during a bargaining session that produced no formal agreement but ended with both sides agreeing to continue talks and form a joint committee.

The discussions centered on a district proposal to move the Karnes Building to a 60‑minute class schedule and on a related union request to guarantee a minimum of 60 minutes of daily planning for alternative‑school teachers, with the union proposing a one‑year trial (a sunset) to evaluate the change. District negotiators opposed cutting planning time across broader grade levels and offered instead to leave the current schedule in place while forming a committee of Karnes teachers and administrators to identify data to collect and metrics for evaluating any schedule change.

Why it matters: the dispute touches on instructional minutes for a vulnerable student population served at the alternative school, teacher preparation time, and class size and course offerings at Karnes. Teachers argued that shorter planning windows would reduce time for preparation and…