During a presentation for the Florida Association of District School Superintendents on June 17, Leonard Dietzen and John Palmerini, the Associate General Counsel at Orange County Public Schools, discussed current collective bargaining issues facing superintendents surrounding in the midst of COVID-19 challenges.  They reviewed return to work topics, safety measures taken by management to protect students and employees, and how to begin negotiating with the bargaining units.

Some key points they addressed included thorough documentation and consistent application of Board policies and contract language, as well as state and federal laws.  Organizations are encouraged to keep their union leaders in the loop with the fast-paced changes and may need to develop new policies for teleworking staff and update job descriptions to fit the new circumstances.  

“In the fast evolving education world there are more questions and few answers grounded in law. Many school districts are doing the best they can with the accelerated change that is nonstop,” said Dietzen.