Teachers find it upsetting that the Fargo School Board is proposing to eliminate protected times

Fargo, North Dakota – The Fargo School Board’s efforts to eliminate protected hours have angered teachers, according to a press release from the Fargo Education Association.

They claim that the Fargo Board of Education ended conversations with teachers about the teacher workday and remuneration during the meeting on June 28. The purpose of the gathering was to discuss the FPS teachers’ contract. Despite numerous encouraging developments on other important topics, the association claims it is upset that its calls for protecting time before and after school to help students be ready for the day are being ignored.

“We are still making progress on the two remaining topics, but the voice of educators who are burned out and pleading for the time they need to plan quality lessons for our students is being silenced,” said Grant Kraft, President of the Fargo Education Association. “We have met for nearly 100 hours, but Wednesday night was the first time we have exchanged salary proposals. Now the Board is insisting that we accept their proposal which removes protected times at the start and end of the school day in order to continue discussing salaries. We can get to an agreement that will be good for students, teachers, and administrators, but we have to focus on solutions, not ultimatums.”

The FEA claims that the Board rejected their request to add another day to continue the conversation on contracts at the conclusion of the meeting. The FEA claims they requested additional time from the Board so they could get opinions from a larger sample of teachers before responding to the Board.