School negotiations get more specific

Negotiators dived into core topics during recent negotiation meetings between the Jefferson County Education Association and the Jeffco Public Schools District.

Following a month of small group meetings, the bargaining teams came together April 13, 15 and 20 to discuss their findings. Each small group, Educator Effectiveness, Collaboration and Autonomy, Educating the Whole Child, and Compensation, presented a brief, high-level overview of the work done to date, highlighting what they felt was important to possibly include in a potential Collaborative Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

“District and JCEA acknowledge that structures adopted for collaboration and shared leadership are not as important as the commitment to a collaborative culture and shared leadership. In other words, it’s vital to understand unless all the stakeholders are on board and all the stakeholders have that voice, the whole system breaks down,” according to a vision of collaboration read by Jayson Haberkorn, a member of the JCEA bargaining team.

Following these brief presentations, the group selected criteria, or standards, by which the possible contract options would be evaluated and dived into their first topic, Collaboration and Autonomy, discussing potential contract items and structures to be in place around school-level autonomy, collaboration and conflict management.

Within each of those topics, the group discussed the creation of committees to address collaboration, scheduling, grievances and other topics, ensuring that they don’t duplicate each other’s work and that the district maintains an appropriate-level of direction, along with what disciplinary activities will be handled at school and district levels and what types of committees should be and are necessary to be created.

Negotiations will continue throughout the month of April, with the next being on Monday, April 27, at the Jefferson County Education Center, 1829 Denver West Drive, Golden.