NEGAUNEE -- More than 30 teachers attended Monday's Negaunee School Board meeting to voice their support for a new contract. The teachers' union says they had a handshake verbal agreement with the Negaunee School Board as of August 6.
Monday night, however, the board decided it could not support a contract that contained, what they called, illegal language. The language centers around issues that the Michigan legislature has prohibited from contract negotiations. They include issues like tenure and at will employment policies.
"What they've agreed to do is put a letter of understanding, attach a letter of understanding to the contract that says if the ballot initiative that would overturn these issues of language was successful, then the language would come back into the contract," said Negaunee Superintendent Jim Derocher.
Some members of the union expressed the hope that the two sides could work together to draft the letter of understanding. In other business, the board also named Brandon Sager as the new Negaunee varsity girl's basketball coach. He will replace Gregg Nelson whose contract was not renewed. Nelson was not brought back for his use of what some have called inappropriate language.
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