Deseret News Story on Class size increases

Go to http://www.desnews.com/ to read the AP story on class size increases across the country. Both Ogden and Weber Districts have told us that they don't plan to increase class sizes, but in some secondary schools in Ogden teachers were moved or non renewed that will necessarily cause class sizes to go up. We have been told that in Ogden the growth is in the elementary schools. We will have to monitor growth and make sure that class sizes in both districts doesn't trend up.

Only three weeks to the beginning of school. OEA is waiting for the district to get back to us on negotiations. Our mediation process with the mediator took place last week and she said she could return if needed.

Rick

OEA Negotiation Team Meets in Second Day of Mediation

The OEA Negotiations Team and the District Team met with Lavonne Ritter, Federal Mediator, for the second day continuing the dialog and sharing information. We will know wait for the District to look at the information and decide on possible future meetings. We are optimistic that we will be able to reach an agreement that is best for our members. We will continue to give you updates at this site. Again, thank you for the support of your membership, your support of the efforts of your OEA negotiation team and your patience as we work to come to an agreement.
Have a great Pioneer Day Weekend. Rick Palmer

Second Day of OEA Mediation Begins Today

Yesterday our OEA Negotiations team met with Lavonne Ritter (Federal Mediator) and the District team to start working on mediation. We met together and explained our positions and then separated to caucus as teams. Ms. Ritter shuttled back and forth between the two groups asking questions and collecting information. We met from 10 AM until almost 6 PM with a 30 minute lunch break. We are beginning this morning at 9 AM. We are hopeful that we can come to a tentative agreement and bring that to you in a ratification meeting. We will post our entire agreement on our web page at www.ogdenweber.org.

We hope to have some good news after today. Thanks for patience. Stay cool in this summer heat.

Rick

Mediation Begins Today

Lavonne Ritter, Federal Mediator from Las Vegas, will lead OEA and the OCSD through mediation today and tomorrow at the district office. She finished with Jordan Education Association and the Jordan District yesterday. We look forward to a productful meeting.

Horace Mann, one of our business partners, is offering a great opportunity for teachers to win money for school projects. We will be posting more information on that soon. Rick

OEA Negotiations

The OEA Negotiations team, Mary Courney, Doug Stephens, Sherie Dame, Chris Tea, Jenny Venegas, Bonnie Darlington, and Whit Freund met yesterday for two hours to prepare for the Federal Mediation that begins Wednesday at 10 AM. We discussed the budget and areas that we wanted to present to the mediator tomorrow. We agreed on our proposals and strategies and we will express our desires tomorrow to the mediator. During the process we will meet seperately and together with the district's team. We are optimistic that the next two days will be fruitful and we will be able to get the best results for you our members.
Rick

OEA Negotiations Meeting

The OEA Negotiations Team is meeting today to prepare for our mediation with the District that begins Wednesday. We will be discussing our proposals and looking at the budget. I will report out more later today. Rick

Reporting from Cody, Wyoming

We are enjoying the day in Cody, WY. A little golf and museum stuff and then down through the park tomorrow. Negotiations will start up again next week. Stay tuned for reports. Rick