Ringgold teachers, district officials hold informal negotiatons
The district and the Ringgold Education Association held “informal negotiations” Tuesday while the union prepared a response to the latest offer to the teachers, said REA President Marie Degnan.
Talks lasted for more than five hours Monday, ending with the announcement that progress was being made on a new 5-year contract. The 210 Ringgold teachers have been working without a contract since July as the strike entered its fourth week.
The union also rejected a fact-finder’s recommendation that would have taken their salaries from between $36,000 and $78,508 a year last term to between $41,439 and $83,947 a year by the end of the contract.
The teachers have been directed by the state to return to work Nov. 21 in order for the district’s nearly 3,000 students to receive the required 180 days of instruction by mid-June.