Battle Ground School Board reviews bargaining training and sets steps to prepare for May negotiations

At a special session called to order at 7:05 a.m., the Battle Ground School Board received a briefing on collective bargaining law and the district’s negotiation process and agreed to schedule an exempt meeting with the district’s bargaining attorney to set bargaining parameters ahead of anticipated negotiations in May.

The briefing was delivered by Michelle Reinhardt, the district’s executive director of human resources, who framed the session around three goals: explain applicable Washington bargaining law, clarify the board’s governance role and outline community perspectives gathered by the Citizens Advisory Committee. "We have a duty to bargain," Reinhardt told the board, stressing that bargaining requires both parties to come to the table in good faith even though it does not guarantee agreement.

Reinhardt walked members through the scope of bargainable subjects, distinguishing mandatory…