Fort Smith district gets board’s OK for waivers

The Arkansas Board of Education has authorized the Fort Smith School District to establish a personnel policies committee for its teachers after the School Board voted last month to discontinue negotiation with the Fort Smith Education Association.

The School Board sought Board of Education waivers of state laws calling for teachers to organize their own districtwide election of representatives to a district’s personnel policies committee and to hold that election in the first quarter of a school year.

Marshall Ney, an attorney for the district, said at a state board meeting in Little Rock on Thursday a twoyear state waiver of the laws for forming the committee will enable the district administration — rather than teachers — to hold an election of committee members as soon as next spring.

The newly approved waivers of state law will also

enable employees at each of the district’s 27 schools to elect one or more represen- tatives from their particular schools to serve on the committee, rather than holding atlarge, districtwide elections for committee members.

State law requires the formation of a personnel policies committee — made up of teachers and no more than three administrators — in every district unless a district recognizes an employee union as a collective bargaining agent for its employees.

The Fort Smith district ended its recognition of the Fort Smith Education Association as the bargaining agent for teachers after learning the association didn’t meet the requirement that more than 50 percent of employees be members of the union.

Leaders of the association — Sid Johnson and Lorrie Woodward — and attorney Clayton Blackstock argued Thursday against the waivers, saying in part the teachers were capable of organizing the election.