241 proposed changes
For three months starting Jan. 6, the district’s negotiating team and the Dayton Education Association’s team sat across the bargaining table, trying to work through hundreds of proposals. DEA President David Romick said the district made 241 proposed changes to the previous contract, which he called an unprecedented number.
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Both sides said progress was slow at first, so a federal mediator became involved this spring.
Separate rooms for sides
In mediation, each bargaining team sits in its own room, with the mediator carrying proposals back and forth. The mediator might ask, for example, that if one side compromised a bit on wages, would the other side compromise a bit on insurance benefits. Those if/then suggestions go back and forth between the parties.
Superintendent Rhonda Corr took over as lead negotiator for the school district in mid-to-late May, and both sides agreed that they made progress for awhile, plowing through some of the smaller issues. But Corr said they reached “a stalemate” in late May on some of the meatier issues.
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3 final sessions?
Mediation is scheduled for Thursday, Monday and again Wednesday, with both sides saying they have cleared their schedules, and are willing to work through the day and evening in search of a deal.
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