These problems are very intertwined and I’m not sure the community has understood all the various aspects of that.”

Emily Copeland, Portsmouth School Committee

Contract continuation: Who does it favor?

Last year, the General Assembly approved legislation — the so-called “evergreen bill” — to extend expired municipal and teacher contracts indefinitely.

Under the new law, the terms and conditions of an expired collective bargaining agreement remain in effect during negotiations, and that’s what’s happening with Portsmouth teachers.

The School Committee and Town Council strongly opposed the bill, saying it will cost taxpayers and make it difficult for them to get concessions during lean budget years. Unions, on the other hand, argued that without the measure, they would have no leverage and be at the mercy of management.

“I personally think it’s a very good thing for teachers,” said Joe Cassady, NEA Portsmouth co-president. “Only because, there was all this anxiety when the School Department could hold it over your head that, ‘We don’t have to pay you.’”

However, he said, “It doesn’t give us a whole lot more ammunition. We’re still looking for a contract that both sides agree upon.”

When asked if the new contract continuation law puts management at a disadvantage during negotiations, School Committee Chairwoman Emily Copeland said it’s a “mixed bag.”

“I think everybody has an incentive to negotiate. Negotiations are give and take. We’ve conceded an awful lot in these negotiations,” she said.

Contract continuation: Who does it favor?

Last year, the General Assembly approved legislation — the so-called “evergreen bill” — to extend expired municipal and teacher contracts indefinitely.

Under the new law, the terms and conditions of an expired collective bargaining agreement remain in effect during negotiations, and that’s what’s happening with Portsmouth teachers.

The School Committee and Town Council strongly opposed the bill, saying it will cost taxpayers and make it difficult for them to get concessions during lean budget years. Unions, on the other hand, argued that without the measure, they would have no leverage and be at the mercy of management.

“I personally think it’s a very good thing for teachers,” said Joe Cassady, NEA Portsmouth co-president. “Only because, there was all this anxiety when the School Department could hold it over your head that, ‘We don’t have to pay you.’”

However, he said, “It doesn’t give us a whole lot more ammunition. We’re still looking for a contract that both sides agree upon.”

When asked if the new contract continuation law puts management at a disadvantage during negotiations, School Committee Chairwoman Emily Copeland said it’s a “mixed bag.”

“I think everybody has an incentive to negotiate. Negotiations are give and take. We’ve conceded an awful lot in these negotiations,” she said.

PORTSMOUTH — More than five months after their three-year contract with the School Committee expired, teachers still don’t have a new collective bargaining agreement.

Members of NEA Portsmouth are not showing up to school without a contract, however. Although the union’s contract expired Aug. 31, 2019, teachers are working under the terms of that labor pact due to a contract continuation bill that became law last year.

Still, both sides said they hope to agree on a new labor contract sooner, rather than later.

“I don’t want to get too deeply into it, but we’re as close to (an agreement) as we’ve ever been,” said union co-president Joe Cassady, a teacher at Portsmouth High School, adding that many tentative agreements are already in place. “We’ve already signed off on a lot.”

Emily Copeland, chairwoman of the School Committee, said the board has an excellent relationship with teachers, but it’s done its “due diligence” during negotiations and has already compromised to meet much of the union’s language, “including including offering a 7-percent raise over three years.”

Sticking point: PHS schedule

Both sides agree the main sticking point is the class schedule at Portsmouth High School and a mandate from the R.I. Department of Education that high school students receive at least 330 instructional minutes per day — which they are currently not at PHS. The high school currently uses a block schedule, but a waterfall schedule — not a popular option — has been floated as one way to meet the state’s requirement.

The School Committee would like PHS teachers to add a teaching section, which would not only meet RIDE’s mandate, but would also allow students more choices of course offerings, Ms. Copeland said.

“We’ve been hearing from kids since last spring: They want more electives, more offerings,” she said. “These problems are very intertwined and I’m not sure the community has understood all the various aspects of that.”

“From out point of view, that was never really a consideration,” Mr. Cassady said of the proposal to add an extra instructional period, as opposed to a duty period.

He said in December, however, the School Improvement Committee proposed a compromise involving an alternate schedule. “From our point of view, that answered all of (the school board’s) concerns,” Mr. Cassady said. The proposal was sent to the school board and the union is waiting to hear back, he said.

Ms. Copeland said as of Monday, “We haven’t seen anything yet,” while acknowledging there’s been “some confusion as to where we left things.”

There are other reasons for the delay in getting a contract settled, both sides say. 

“We are technically in mediation, but we haven’t met with a mediator for about a month and a half. There are a lot of moving points and we just couldn’t find a time to schedule,” Mr. Cassady said.

Part of it has to do with the fact that the mediator took time off for vacation, and that the school district has been dealing with the transition to a new superintendent, Thomas Kenworthy. 

End in sight?

Ms. Copeland said a negotiation subcommittee meeting was held last Thursday, and the school board has an offer it will sending to the union.

“I think our next step is to try and arrange a meeting between the union and the negotiation committee to see if we can work out some details and hopefully they’ll have something to bring back to their members,” she said. “We’ve gone into mediation. We hope to settle the contract soon, but if mediation and negotiation fails we will be entering into arbitration, but we hope to avoid that.”

The “end of February,” she said, will be a better time to see “where we’re both at.”