Policy committee debates LEA association leave, "flex time" and invoicing for representational activity

The Lakeland Joint School District policy committee spent substantial time on the draft section addressing the Lakeland Education Association (LEA), debating how association leave, representational activity during in-duty status, and "flex time" should be defined and administered.

Staff member (Speaker 3) said the LEA language originated as recommended language, was reviewed by district legal counsel and by the LEA president, and that the draft aims to summarize rights and the administration-union interaction. The draft defines the Lakeland Education Association and lists rights to meet with administrators and representatives, subject to applicable law.

A committee member (Speaker 4) raised practical concerns about representation during in-duty status, saying that if "a building principal pulls a teacher in to have a conversation about something that the teacher then deems as potentially being something related to disciplinary action, they have the right to call upon their building rep and or association representative to come in," and asked how meetings would be handled if the representative is not immediately available. The member warned that requiring a representative to be present could "hamstring" administrators because meetings might need to be delayed until representation is available.

Committee members discussed a statutory mechanism to avoid taxpayer-funded union time. Staff located a statutory citation (referenced in discussion as 33-12-7.1) and read its key passage: the district calculates the pro rata value of compensation for representational activities, provides an invoice to the teachers' union at least twice per year, and the teachers' union remits full payment within 30 days. Staff and members cited that as the district's tool to offset paid time used for representational activities.

The term "flex time" sparked disagreement. Several members said calling the makeup time "flex time" is misleading. One member argued the period is not discretionary and should be called required or mandatory makeup time because employees "are required to make up the time that I took away from my in duty status," language the member used during the meeting.

Other practical matters unsettled members: the draft establishes a maximum of 22 days of association leave for LEA members but did not make clear whether that cap is per-member or collective; request timing was inconsistent in the draft (one-week versus two-week notice), and committee members decided to clarify the process to require requests first to the LEA president and then to the immediate supervisor at least two weeks prior to requested dates, with final forwarding to the superintendent and written notice.

Committee members agreed to strike or reword contradictory sentences and to return the section for clarification by district staff and legal counsel; no final vote was taken.

The policy committee ran out of time and adjourned with the union-related language still under revision.