Hope-Page negotiators table several contract items, agree on payroll and benefit wording changes

Negotiators for the Hope-Page Public School District 85 and the Hope-Page Education Association met April 8, 2025, at Hope-Page Elementary School in Page, N.D., to conduct a line‑by‑line review of a proposed teacher contract. The committees reached agreement on several technical payroll and benefit wording changes, tabled a number of substantive items, and extended the negotiation schedule to April 22, 2025.

The meeting opened at 4:15 p.m., called to order by Angel Lindseth. Committee members present included Hannah Erickson, Luke Juliuson, Jeri Anne Larck, Janee Brendemuhl and Alli Roller; administrative staff and others also attended. The parties proceeded item by item through proposals submitted by the Hope‑Page Education Association (HPEA) and the HP School Board.

HPEA presented Items 1–8. The committee tabled Item 1, a proposed grievance‑procedure change, Item 2 (emergency leave to be revised to a flexible leave including religious holidays), Item 3 (formatting change to parental leave) and Item 5 (language on salary placement for staff "locked out" of a lane). The parties agreed to specific salary‑schedule timing and formatting changes: they accepted edits to payroll procedures to normalize contract formatting and agreed to remove some dated paycheck references as proposed. The committee also agreed to remove contract language guaranteeing substitute compensation for districtwide professional development; the administration will set and communicate substitute rates going forward.

On benefits, both sides agreed to revise the tuition‑reimbursement clause from repeated language to a one‑time reimbursement and accepted HPEA’s withdrawal of a proposal to offer 100% family coverage when two married teachers both work in the district.

The HP School Board presented a separate set of proposals. The board’s requests to adopt the recognition language tied to NDCC 15.1‑16‑10 and to replace the grievance procedure with NDSBA policy DGAA were tabled for further consideration. The board also proposed consolidating bereavement and parental leave uses into the district’s existing 12 sick days and offered adjustments to the salary schedule, including a proposed $497 addition to the base in year one; those proposals were tabled.

Several board proposals were accepted or agreed in principle. The parties agreed that staff assigned to lunch duty by the administrative team will receive free lunch. They accepted a formatting change to separate TFFR language, and they agreed to insurance language that the board will pay the full single premium for full‑time teachers; current teachers who as of 2024–25 receive 50% of premium for family or single+spouse plans will remain grandfathered at 50%. The board will determine the insurance carrier.

The committee also agreed that teachers issued a schedule overload will be given a separate agreement, and approved reducing the classroom supply allotment from $500 to $250. The board removed discussion of a proposed liquidated‑damages clause.

Procedurally, the committees moved the next scheduled meeting from April 9 to April 22 at Hope‑Page High School, extended the negotiations deadline to April 22, approved the April 2 meeting minutes, and set the agenda for April 16. The meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m.

What remains unresolved are several substantive items the parties explicitly tabled: the grievance procedure language, parental/emergency leave restructuring, salary‑schedule lane placement for staff locked out of lanes, and proposed base/salary increases. The committees left those items for further negotiation at the continued sessions on April 16 and April 22.