NOTE: Central Vermont Unified Union School District is now Paine Mountain School District, and Orange/Washington Unified Union School District is now Echo Valley Community School District. Names and acronyms have been changed below to reflect the new district names.

The following was approved by: Central Vermont Supervisory Union on 11/29/2017; Paine Mountain School District on 11/06/2017; Echo Valley Community School District on 11/08/2017.

CVSU, PMSD and EVCSD boards’ goals statement regarding teacher and staff contract negotiations.

The Central Vermont Supervisory Union (CVSU) and its member districts, Paine Mountain School District (PMSD) and Echo Valley Community School District (EVCSD), are presented with the following facts:

• 16 VSA Chapter 53 Subchapter 3 (added by Act 46 of 2015, Sec 43) requires transitional boards of newly merged districts or supervisory unions begin negotiations with staff negotiating councils within 90 days after formation of the transitional boards;
• the boards must appoint a negotiations council;
• the boards must provide guidance to the negotiations council;
• the Governor’s office is predicting a gap in the education fund that will be at least $50 million and may require at least an 8¢ increase in property tax rates and a proportional increase in the education income tax rate;
• the Governor and state Legislature may end up requiring that supervisory unions and school districts around the state drastically reign in spending by methods such as no increase in year to year budgets; and
• the delivery of high quality learning experiences and instruction requires high quality staff.

The Board of Directors for the CVSU, PMSD and EVCSD must focus our policies in a deliberate and thoughtful manner if we are to maintain our students and their learning experiences and outcomes as the priority. Certainly one of the more important policy documents our boards help to create is the contractual agreements we enter into with the teachers and support staff in our community's schools. Our boards have created the following goals to guide our negotiating team during the upcoming teachers and staff master agreement negotiations:

The agreement will address in a fair manner the demands by the Governor and state Legislature that local districts constrain growth in education spending.

The agreement will address and forward the goals and visions presented in the merger agreements that formed the PMSD and EVCSD.

The agreement will address the changing landscape in how, where and when learning experiences are provided to our students.

The agreement will address in a fair manner the ability of the state and local communities to financially support high quality learning experiences.

The agreement will address in a fair manner the needs of teachers and staff to receive compensation that is commensurate with the level of services provided.

The agreement will address the reality that school districts across Vermont are in a time of unpredictable flux.

The CVSU, PMSD and EVCSD boards look forward to a timely and mutually productive negotiation with our districts' teachers and staff that will be handled in a manner reflecting fairness and respect for all.