USD 480 School Board Meets; Negotiations still Stalled

The USD 480 Board of Education met Tuesday night for a regularly scheduled meeting in front of another packed house streaming into the hallway.

After honoring its principals at the beginning of the meeting, the board went to executive session for negotiations. After negotiations there were comments from the floor, which included four teachers who expressed their opinions about negotiations.

Following the comments from the floor, Board President Reid Petty made a motion to add LNEA’s counter offer to the agenda that failed due to a lack of a quorum during the August 30 special meeting. Petty’s reason was that Wayne Tate, the board attorney for negotiations recommended that the board re-vote so that all seven members could vote since Nick Hatcher and Stacy Johnson missed the last vote. Vice-President Tammy Sutherland-Abbott seconded Petty’s motion, but the vote failed with Petty, Sutherland-Abbott, and Johnson voting in favor for adding the offer to the agenda to be re-voted on, while Dan Diepenbrock, Hatcher, Dr. Jim Jury, and Cheryl Louderback voted against the addition.

After yet another failed attempt to settle, the board and LNEA will likely either have to settle through their chief negotiating teams or will go to mediation.