Still no details on teacher contract

Brainerd school officials are checking into whether the district must publicly release the terms of the tentative contract agreement reached Tuesday between negotiators for the school board and its teachers' union, Education Minnesota Brainerd.

The board met in closed session for 1-1/2-hours Tuesday then returned to an open meeting where Superintendent Steve Razidlo announced the board had reached a tentative agreement between both negotiating teams. The board and its attorney, Tom Fitzpatrick, have declined to provide any details about the tentative agreement.

Mark Anfinson, attorney for the Minnesota Newspaper Association, advised the Dispatch that under the Data Practices Act, this data is public unless a governing body can cite a specific state statute that allows that body to keep it private. An advisory opinion issued last spring by the Minnesota Department of Administration involving the Fargo Forum newspaper and the Moorhead School District also supports that this information should be made public, said Anfinson. The case involved a similar tentative contract agreement reached between the Moorhead School District and its teachers' union.

School board chair Kent Montgomery, chair of the Personnel Committee, and Superintendent Steve Razidlo referred all questions to Fitzpatrick Wednesday.

Fitzpatrick said Wednesday he was researching what the district may release and when it must release it. He and Razidlo both said they were unsuccessful in reaching state mediator Mike Stockstead, who is handling mediation between the district and EMB.

Fitzpatrick said he spoke Wednesday to a representative from the Information Policy Analysis Division of the Minnesota Department of Administration, the state agency that issues advisory opinions. Fitzpatrick cited a 2006 case involving the Star Tribune and the Metropolitan Council where a state mediator had told both sides in negotiations not to speak publicly or release information during the mediation process.

Fitzpatrick told the Dispatch he may have a decision Thursday whether the district will release any terms of its contract settlement.

"This is not some type of secret we're trying to maintain here," Fitzpatrick said. "We are working to be sure what we release and when we release it and that we're being lawful about it."

The next step toward a settled contract is for Brainerd teachers to vote and approve the tentative agreement. The board would then need to ratify the settled contract. The school board has a regular monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Monday.

The district is one of nine school districts in the state without a settled teachers' contract. The district and the teachers' union are attempting to settle the teachers' contract for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years.

Razidlo said both sides will likely be back at the bargaining table within a few months to begin negotiations for the next two-year contract.