Article 4 of the Negotiated Agreement outlines the Grievance and Arbitration Procedure between the school district and CCEA. The importance of this Article cannot be stressed enough. A grievance is defined as any dispute that arises regarding an interpretation, application, or alleged violation of the provisions contained in the Negotiated Agreement. Frequently filed grievances are for:

• unsatisfactory evaluations which are not supported by separate documents brought to the employee’s attention within 20 days;
• an admonition that did not follow progressive discipline; and/or
• for violations of preparation periods to name a few.

There are legitimate concerns as to why a grievance takes so long to be resolved. There are various reasons why getting a grievance to arbitration can be lengthy.

First of all, a grievance is filed with the school district no later than 30 working days after the grievant knew of the act or condition upon which the grievance is based. Once a grievance is filed, a Step 2 hearing is scheduled. At this hearing typically, the grievant is present, an advocate on behalf of the grievant if applicable, the school district’s advocate, the school administrator, and a hearing officer. The hearing officer is an administrator of the school district’s Employee Management Relations department. Because this office schedules hearings for all bargaining groups, i.e. support staff, administrators, and police, it can take a few months to schedule a grievance. This step allows each side to provide their position and possibly settle. After a hearing decision is rendered, the grievance may be moved to arbitration if need be.

The school district and CCEA agree that discipline must be prioritized. First priority is dismissals, namely because a teacher is being deprived of their livelihood. Suspensions are the next priority because the teacher can take a potential financial loss. Of course, if a suspension is tied to a grievance, i.e. an admonition, unsatisfactory evaluation, etc., that grievance will also be heard at the same time. Grievances that are not tied to a suspension have least priority.

This article is entitled, “Patience is a Virtue” because it applies in both our personal and professional life. At times, it seems that things are not moving or going as fast as we want them to, but one must understand the process it takes to get to arbitration and that the matter is pending until an arbitration decision is rendered or the matter is settled.