After seeking legal consultation, the Dickinson Public School Board held a special meeting on Monday afternoon to resolve 59 teacher grievances filed in December.
During the meeting, the board approved a plan to award teachers who attended the curriculum night with a quarter day, or two hours of leave time, which can be taken at their convenience.
Curriculum night was designed to inform parents of classroom studies, especially pertaining to Common Core standards. At a school board meeting on March 3, teachers said preparing for and attending the event consumed hours that extended beyond their contract.
The majority of teacher grievances requested 180 minutes of leave time, although a small percentage asked to be financially compensated for extra hours.
The decision was made after school board members held a half-hour closed executive session with their lawyer and later heard from each of the six elementary school principals in the district, who said they had built time into regular working hours to prepare lessons for the night, which helped alleviate some of the burden.
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However, they said time spent planning for the event did vary on a case-by-case basis.
“We are split here. There are some things we like and some we don’t,” school board member Leslie Ross said about the board’s decision. “This is not necessarily a ‘win win’ for everybody.”
All board members agreed it was a difficult decision to make, with many factors to take into consideration.
With a resolution to the problem, president Kris Fehr said the board can now move forward.
Written and electronic letters will be sent out to teachers explaining the board's decision within the next 10 business days.
