Tentative Teacher’s Contract to Save Block Scheduling for Westlake HS
Block scheduling at Westlake High School may get a reprieve for at least the next two years.
Mount Pleasant Superintendent of Schools Dr. Susan Guiney announced at Wednesday’s Board of Education meeting that the district had come to a tentative contract settlement with the Mount Pleasant Teachers Association (MPTA) for 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Progress has been made on a new contract over the past two weeks. The agreement calls for continuation of block scheduling, Guiney said.
A Mar. 3 e-mail from the board to district residents stated that block scheduling at the high school was at risk of being scuttled for next year because there was no new contract with the teachers’ union.
Guiney said the union is scheduled to vote on the contract next Friday. The board could then vote on the agreement at its June 28 work session.
She said she would be “very thrilled” if block scheduling would remain in place for the upcoming school year.
Under block scheduling, classes meet for a longer period of time than traditional class periods but students do not take all subjects every school day.
Board of Education President Christopher Pinchiaroli said when block scheduling was implemented a few years ago, district officials noticed language in the contract limiting teaching time to a maximum of 126 minutes without a break. As a result, the district and the union agreed to additional pay and support for teachers, he said. That agreement, in the form of a side letter, is set to expire on June 30.
Guiney declined to provide further details about the tentative contract last week because it has not been approved by the union or the board.
The MPTA’s 217 members include teachers, teaching assistants and school nurses.
