McGuffey board, union meets with arbitration panel

McGuffey School Board and teachers union representatives met with an arbitration panel Monday night to discuss a new contract.
Each side presented a shortened version of its last best offer to the three-member panel, said school board member Doug Teagarden. The unresolved issues are salary, health care, length of contract and retirement incentive.
Teagarden said the panel met for about 20 minutes in executive session before adjourning the meeting.
The panel will meet again in the next 10 days and will come back with a proposal. If necessary, it will issue a finding, Teagarden said. However, the finding is nonbinding.
The panel can come back with one of three findings: supporting the union offer, supporting the board offer or supporting the fact-finder’s report.
The board and union have been negotiating for more than 15 months. Together, they decided to bring in a fact-finder. The union accepted the fact-finder’s report, while the school board rejected it.
The union struck for two days earlier this year and the arbitration began.