{"id":11727,"date":"2013-12-18T19:10:07","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T19:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/independentweekender.com\/?p=11727"},"modified":"2013-12-18T19:10:07","modified_gmt":"2013-12-18T19:10:07","slug":"mt-view-teachers-engulf-board-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2013\/12\/18\/mt-view-teachers-engulf-board-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Mt. View teachers engulf board meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tom Fontana
\nCorrespondent<\/strong><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t quite a tsunami, but a sea of blue flowed into the Mt. View School District board room on Monday night, Dec. 16.<\/p>\n

About 50 district teachers wearing color-coordinated shirts packed the directors\u2019 meeting, giving the impression of a wave of solidarity, but none spoke up with any explanation for the titanic congregation. Once row after row was filled and there was no more space for chairs on deck, some of the aqua-attired were forced to float along the walls of the room.<\/p>\n

The meeting ended without any public mention of why so many educators ventured out in the iceberg-like 14-degree weather rather sail home to grade papers.<\/p>\n

After the meeting, one district employee did speak anonymously to the Independent when asked about the faculty fashion phenomenon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t had a contract in two years,\u201d she stated. \u201cGroup of teachers will start attending board meetings, eventually we\u2019ll speak up.\u201d<\/p>\n

When pressed further as to the contract demands of the Mountain View Education Association (the teacher\u2019s union), she replied, \u201cWe at least want the same as we had before, and even that was a crappy contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas Stoddard, who is the chairman of the board\u2019s labor relations committee, has been meeting monthly with representatives of the MVEA, but said the December 9 meeting had been cancelled due to weather conditions. (Stoddard was elected president of the board in its recent reorganization.)<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the gathering seemed to be a \u2018shot over the bow\u2019 by the teachers in anticipation of further contract negotiations.<\/p>\n

A few of the teachers did speak up in reaction to high school principal Robert Presley\u2019s request that the board approve a \u2018dual enrollment\u2019 agreement with Lackawanna College. The program would allow Mt. View students to earn college credits for specific courses at the high school for a fee to Lackawanna College of $100 per credit. Presley said each course would be worth three credits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m concerned that those credits are not a guaranteed transfer to another school if a student decides not to attend Lackawanna College,\u201d director Roy Twining stated.<\/p>\n

Presley told Twining that, in fact, the credits can be transferred to any college or university in the Commonwealth, but not necessarily to schools beyond the state borders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to be sure parents know that,\u201d Twining insisted.<\/p>\n

Presley assured the board that parents and students would be informed of all aspects of the program.<\/p>\n

A few teachers questioned how a high school course can serve as equal to a college course, and were skeptical that a college would accept a high school course for degree credit.<\/p>\n

Presley explained that the college chooses the course on that merit, and only five courses would be offered.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there aren\u2019t at least 10 students signed up for the course,\u201d he added, \u201cthe course will not be offered.<\/p>\n

He added that if a Lackawanna College course a student wanted to take is not offered at Mt. View, the student has the option to take the course at the college.<\/p>\n

The board unanimously approved the pact with Lackawanna College.
\nPresley also asked the board to reconsider approval for the district to pay the costs of fees and transportation for tournament participation by all of the district\u2019s sports programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, the booster clubs pay the fees,\u201d Presley explained, \u201cand the players have to find their own transportation, some of them driving themselves. I\u2019m not comfortable with that because of the possibility of an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a board meeting in November, he also argued that participation in tournaments could save the district money. He offered a cost comparison \u2013 dual meets vs. tournaments \u2013 that the board requested from him last month.
\n\u201cA single tournament can earn as much as three league participation points,\u201d he told the board, \u201cbut dual meets only earn one. If transportation cost is the issue, one trip to a tournament can replace three dual tournament trips and still earn the same number of participation points.\u201d<\/p>\n

Presley also cited a new league rule that requires a third official at varsity basketball games. \u201cThis is an extra cost of $66 per game,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd for wrestling, the fee for an official is $73.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board, by unanimous consent, gave Presley the authority to schedule tournaments, in conjunction with district athletic director Jan Price, based on cost savings to the district.<\/p>\n

Newly-seated board member Jason Richmond prompted a short discussion about the possibility of charging admission to district indoor sports events, as do many other school districts. One objection to that proposal was the cost to larger families, and Richmond pointed out that some school districts offer a season pass for families.<\/p>\n

The discussion ended with no consideration of an admission charge at this time.<\/p>\n

A representative of Mid Atlantic Energy Services presented the board with a proposal to serve as an \u2018energy broker\u2019 for the district, and research alternative companies to provide electrical service based on the lowest market price.<\/p>\n

He said he could inform the board of the lowest price and \u2018lock\u2019 the district into a 17-month contract at that price, creating a financial savings to the district.<\/p>\n

Stoddard said the board could not commit to a contract at that meeting without further consideration, and probably would not consider the proposal until a meeting in January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tom Fontana Correspondent It wasn\u2019t quite a tsunami, but a sea of blue flowed into the Mt. View School District board room on Monday…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nMt. View teachers engulf board meeting - PS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2013\/12\/18\/mt-view-teachers-engulf-board-meeting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mt. 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