WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER!

Negotiations Updates

8 Sept. 2026

On Wednesday last week, your Negotiations Team met with the District to begin discussing the new contract, which will run from July 2026 through August 2029. Thank you to everyone who wore your MTA Swag to show your solidarity!

The MTA Team met all morning to discuss strategy and work on the Articles we were to present, and then after lunch the District Team joined us for formal negotiations.

We began with Introductions, since there are some new members on both teams, and then reviewed our Norms & Processes for our collaboration. No real changes, and MTA continues to be committed to open communications with our membership.

Then MTA officially requested documents from the District, which we need to form our strategy moving forward. Most are routine and financial, and will only be available after the budget report of last year’s spending to the School Board tonight, September 8th. We will know more after that.

We all then discussed the timeline for moving through the sixteen Articles, five Appendices, and one proposed new Article (!) that have been placed on the table for Negotiation. MTA came in prepared to present three Articles, and the order in which Articles will be discussed was proposed.

MTA then presented Article 21: “Negotiation Process,” which is not often opened for discussion. MTA proposed increasing the size of the MTA Team from 5 members to 10, as we want to continue our model of shared leadership and widen the breadth of representation. It is also our priority to build the members who can step in and take over as members move off the team. This proposal was agreed to by the District, and it was encouraged that members from different sites and positions be included. The Article was signed by both sides.

We then presented Article 4: “Association Rights,” which included mainly grammar and typos, with “Amy” producing some levity! (Look at Article 4.6.b, if you’re interested.) The Article did cause some lively discussion, and we did not reach a consensus. The District will come back with a response at our next meeting.

Article 15: “Inter-District Transfer Request” was the last to be discussed, with minor grammatical corrections and the addition of a clause to ensure that our members have priority to have their children attend the school site closest to their work site. The District agreed to this, and the Article was signed by both sides.

Overall, a very productive day! To sign two Articles on the first day is an achievement, and we see that as setting the tone for our meetings moving forward: we will come in ready, and we expect the district to do the same! Your Team will meet again before joining the District on Tuesday & Wednesday, September 22nd & 23rd. Please wear anything MTA to show your support again!

Thanks,

Brett & The Negotiations Team

Grievance vs. Complaint