By Patricia Bogumil
Editor
For months, the Waterford Graded School District board has sought to hold a closed negotiating session with the Waterford Union High School board to discuss compensation issues for the Waterford Special Education Co-op, whose workers are employed by the high school.
The high school board recently responded to the WGSD request by scheduling a public Nov. 14 joint meeting to air Co-op issues.
The Nov. 14 meeting follows recent notification by the Waterford Graded board that it plans to leave the special education co-op in 2014.
Nov. 14 joint meeting
All members of the public residing in the Waterford high school district and its K-8 public feeder districts are invited to attend Nov. 14.
Also invited are school board members serving the four districts in the Waterford Co-op: Waterford Union High, Waterford Graded, Washington-Caldwell and North Cape.
The Nov. 14 meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in Room 171 (the Large Group Instructional room) at the high school.
It will feature a presentation from Co-op staff about special education services, followed by time for residents and school board members to speak.
“We want to hear what people have to say about this,” said Keith Brandstetter, the high school’s superintendent.
The high school board feels a responsibility to hear the thoughts of parents, community members and staff about Waterford’s special education co-op, he said.
Maybe another meeting
The high school board also feels that another meeting, which might be held in closed session, may be scheduled in the future with the other school boards of the Co-operative, Brandstetter added.
That message may be interesting news for some members of the WGSD school board.
The Waterford Graded board is on record as stating that it will not attend an open session to discuss Co-op issues that have become a concern, according to Dan Jensen, the WGSD board president.
School boards cannot discuss individual employees and their compensation in public, and negotiations are not conducted in public either, Jensen explained.
“This is not a question of whether WGSD wants to be in a cooperative with the other schools, because we do – as long as we have a true say in how our dollars are spent,” Jensen explained via email Oct. 29.
“This is a negotiation between the high school and the schools that pay them for special ed services,” Jensen added.
He said the WGSD board is more than happy to attend a joint closed – rather than open – meeting with the Waterford Union High School, Washington-Caldwell and the North Cape school boards “to negotiate a solution to our concerns.”
Brandstetter said he hopes members of the Waterford Graded board decide to attend the Nov. 14 joint meeting.
A general discussion to share ideas about compensation issues can be held in public, Brandstetter said.
“Sometimes I think we just have a philosophical difference about how things go, and that’s all right,” he added.
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