Posted on 11/21/23
| News Source: WBAL
Teachers rallied outside a Baltimore County Board of Education meeting Monday as the deadline to reach a union contract agreement approaches.
The deadline to work out a new contract with the district is Nov. 30.
Teachers Association of Baltimore County (TABCO) representatives said they’re close to an agreement, but not there yet.
“(We are) asking the board of education to take a hard look at items within our contract that do not cost a lot of money. We are aware that there is an impending fiscal cliff. We’ve heard it over and over. We understand it,” teacher Helene Groves said.
Some spoke to the board about those wishes at the meeting. Teachers said they want to create committees on student discipline and employee attendance monitoring. They also want to add in conditions for school support personnel like counselors, school psychologists and nurses.
“They are in a totally different situation than a classroom educator, but they’re still part of our bargaining unit, so they may have to lose their planning time or their lunchtime to work with a student in distress, which they absolutely do, all the time. We just want them to be able to get that time back or be compensated for it,” TABCO president Cindy Sexton said.
If the two sides cannot reach an agreement by the deadline, the union will ask members to vote on a “work to rule.”
“It essentially means you work your duty hours only. You walk into school when your day starts; you walk out when your day is over. Teachers put in so many hours of extra work, and we would not be doing that extra work,” Sexton said.
Members are hopeful it won’t come to that. The union has one more negotiation session planned on Nov. 28.
Sexton believes the two sides will find a middle ground before the deadline for the first time in recent memory.
“It has never happened since I’ve been a part of TABCO for 20 years, so I’m very excited. It means we can turn our efforts to other things that are concerning,” she said.