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Level 3 Grievance Presented to Houston School Board

May 12, 2025 by Wanda Hanson Leave a Comment

Kiel Koehler, Teachers’ Union president, presented a level 3 grievance to the school board. Photo by Wanda Hanson
The Houston School Board from left to right: Grayden Beckman and Julia Carr, student school board representatives, Superintendent Mary Morem, Arlin Peterson, Chair Josh Norlien, Steve Walters, Mark Swenson, Lisa Schultz, Mimi Carlson and Nickki Johnson. Photo by Wanda Hanson
The Houston School Board from left to right: Grayden Beckman and Julia Carr, student school board representatives, Superintendent Mary Morem, Arlin Peterson, Chair Josh Norlien, Steve Walters, Mark Swenson, Lisa Schultz, Mimi Carlson and Nickki Johnson. Photo by Wanda Hanson
Kiel Koehler, Teachers’ Union president, presented a level 3 grievance to the school board. Photo by Wanda Hanson
Kiel Koehler, Teachers’ Union president, presented a level 3 grievance to the school board. Photo by Wanda Hanson

Kiel Koehler, a teacher for 28 years at Houston, teachers’ union president and rights advocate appeared before the Houston School Board on May 1 to present a level 3 grievance. Koehler stated that the grievance was brought about when the district started a new ALP (Alternative Learning Program). The teaching positions were correctly posted, but staff already contracted with the district were offered the positions with a .25 FTE (full-time equivalent) extended contract.

MNVA teachers’ workloads are calculated based on the number of students they serve; the onsite teachers’ workloads are based on the number of classes they teach. When teachers were given an additional .25 FTE, some teachers were getting paid for more than full-time teaching when in actuality their student load was below full-time load numbers. Koehler shared some examples of specific teachers using Teacher A – F, keeping the teachers’ names out of the discussion.

Koehler also brought up the placement of teachers on the salary schedule; some new teachers were placed on the far lower right of the salary schedule. They had been credited for additional years of service for which they were not certified at the time. Superintendent Morem objected to this, saying that those issues had been resolved. Koehler felt it necessary to mention this as well, stating that if lawyers for both sides get involved in an arbitration process all items may be renegotiated at that time. There is no written agreement at this time.

Morem requested that Koehler share copies of his PowerPoint presentation with the board so it could be added to the agenda for the public to see. Koehler agreed to do this.

Koehler stated, “The union wants to negotiate workloads that optimize teacher effectiveness. This is significantly rewarding a subgroup more than other teachers.”

Using data obtained from the district on March 10, Koehler shared his calculations of what not following the master contract was costing the district. According to his calculations, the district was overpaying by $1.6 million. Koehler stressed that the union was not asking the district to come up with $1.6 million or to garnish the wages of the teachers who had been overpaid; rather, it was asking for more equitable compensation for the onsite teachers who did an overload. This would be a total of $44,000 for the onsite teachers for this year according to Koehler.

Both Koehler and Morem agreed that the board had officially approved the hiring contracts.

Negotiations are just beginning on a new master agreement; hopefully the issue can be rectified in the new contract.

This is not the first time this issue has been raised; in 2017 efforts were made to make the overage pay equivalent. At that time, teachers were asked not to take on overages.

The board legally had seven days to respond to the grievance; ultimately, the board chose to respond at the meeting and unanimously denied the request of the union. Superintendent Morem commented that it would be against the law to reopen the master agreement.

The union now has 10 days to decide whether the grievance will be brought to arbitration. The school district and the union will share the expenses of arbitration 50/50.

Regular Board Business

In regular business the board:

  • Accepted bids for the following projects: Meyer concrete quote, elementary flooring, high school secure entry, Dunn Blacktop pavement, bus garage quote, baseball concessions stands and baseball field; all of these items totaling $321,000 fall under Long Term Facilities Maintenance. The district pays only 12% of the expense;
  • Approved the insurance vendor contract with a $20,000 overall increase;
  • Learned that bids were to be opened the following day for food service; only one company (Taher) had responded to the RFP (request for proposals);
  • Decided to continue with all co-op sports with both R-P and Caledonia; suggestions for changes will be presented to Caledonia to improve communication and inclusivity;
  • Approved the non-renewal of Dane Wiskow;
  • Accepted donations totaling $975;
  • Acknowledged MNVA SPED teachers Tina Barnes and Melissa Glahn for creating a safe and secure environment and supporting the needs of their students and families;
  • Heard reports from the student board representatives about activities at the high school;
  • Shared the fact that the actual tax increase for this year was 1.5% while noting that, however, some evaluations had gone up thus increasing property owners’ taxes.

Filed Under: Education, Feature, Houston Hurricanes

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