The Aurora school board met behind closed doors Thursday night after an arbitrator ruled that the district violated teachers’ contract by adding another period of classroom instruction for high school educators this year.
The arbitrator’s nonbinding ruling says teachers should be compensated for leading the extra period, according to the union. The period was tacked on to slash about $2.4 million from the district’s 2010-11 budget.
In an e-mailed statement, Aurora Public Schools spokeswoman Georgia Duran said the district was thoughtful when it decided to add the period to save the equivalent of 20 teaching positions.
“At this time, we are thoroughly evaluating the arbitrator’s nonbinding advisory recommendation regarding teacher-contact time,” she said. “Specifically, we’re assessing its impact on students, teachers, the APS budget and the school district overall.”
The district could reject parts or all of the ruling, or accept it and compensate the teachers for the additional class time, held during sixth period.
The teachers union filed a grievance earlier this year with APS. When the district decided to add the period of teaching anyway, the union sought arbitration.
Union president Brenna Isaacs said that before this year, teachers used the sixth period for planning and one-on-one time with students. But now with about 30 extra students from the additional class, that type of instruction has been cut.
“Teachers have said they have less time to work individually with students and less time to confer with students who need more attention,” Isaacs said.
There are roughly 450 high school teachers in APS, she said.
District officials have declined to comment further. The school board could make a decision when it meets Nov. 9.
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com
