CREIGHTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 14

INTEREST-BASED NEGOTIATIONS

(MEET-AND-CONFER)

The scope of meet and confer shall include wages, salaries, salary schedules, hours of work, compensations relating to fringe benefits and conditions of work that are non instructional in nature and of District-wide impact.

Board Agent

Members of the teams shall meet to determine the procedures and ground rules for the meetings. These are to include:

A. Meeting days/dates,

B. Meeting times/places,

C. Meeting length,

D. Caucus length,

E. Agenda building.

Caucus may be declared at any time and each team shall have access to a telephone in a private area. Written statements of concerns exchanged by the parties will be all inclusive and signed by the appropriate representative. Additional items will not be brought to the Meet and Confer table. All tentative agreements reached by the parties shall be jointly written by the appropriate representatives. All materials developed by either team to support the Meet and Confer process will be supplied and exchanged. These materials may be exchanged up to three (3) days prior to the next meeting. Tentative agreement of individual items reached during Meet and Confer shall be reduced to writing, dated, and signed by both teams' representative spokespersons.

Professional Relations

A professional relationship exists between the Governing Board and the District's employees. The Governing Board recognizes that educators are professionals, they have specialized qualifications, and their recommendations for policy development are important to the academic success of students.

In order to promote a process that takes into account the experience and judgment of all parties sharing responsibility for learning within the Creighton School District, the Superintendent is authorized to establish a professional relations committee of recognized certificated personnel, educational support personal representatives and selected administrators acting on behalf of the Governing Board to participate in a negotiation process for the purpose of improving matters of mutual interest; employee salaries, conditions of employment, fringe benefits, and working/instructional conditions. Nothing in the process shall abridge the Governing Board's legal responsibilities for establishing policies, rules, and regulations. Under law, the Governing Board has the final responsibility of establishing policies for the District.

Professional Relations Committee

(referred hereafter as the Meet and Confer Team)

The Governing Board and the Creighton Education Association (CEA), the recognized representative, agree that the educational welfare of the children of the District is paramount in the operation of the schools. The Superintendent and CEA President will designate an equal number of representatives from the CEA and the District to serve as the Meet and Confer Team. The Meet and Confer Team will be comprised of Certificated, Classified and Administrative staff.

Meet and Confer Procedures

(Interest-Based Negotiations)

Both parties agree to meet and confer in good faith. The obligation of good faith does not compel either party to agree to or to make a concession on a specific issue. An external facilitator may be selected by mutual agreement, to serve as a facilitator in the negotiation process.

Meet and Confer/Interest-Based Negotiations meetings will be open to anyone for observation only. Closed study sessions will be conducted by mutual agreement. Meet and Confer/Interest-Based Negotiations are not to take place during closed study sessions. The Meet and Confer teams must be able to discuss proceedings freely with their constituents. Official releases or communications pertaining to the Meet and Confer proceeding will be jointly agreed upon by both spokespersons. The first meeting will be held by November 1 between the Superintendent and CEA President with the intent to establish a calendar of meeting dates and discussion guidelines.

The Meet and Confer process will result in a written, negotiated agreement. If the parties agree to items during the Meet and Confer process that would require a change to existing Governing Board policy, such shall be submitted to the Governing Board for consideration. All negotiated agreements shall be available online as a staff resource.

Final Agreement

The Meet and Confer Team shall communicate the tentative final agreements to District employees. The Creighton Education Association may hold a meeting for its members and nonmembers to present the tentative agreements on salaries and other conditions of employment and the date on which the final decision shall be reached prior to official Governing Board review and action.