Schedule Debate to be Presented to Arbitrator

A ruling by the New Hampshire Public Labor Relations Board earlier this week ordered that both sides involved in the ongoing class-schedule dispute at Stevens High School meet with an arbitrator.

The union representing the district’s teachers has been at odds with the Claremont School Board for months on the controversial schedule, and at one point put in a request for a “cease and desist” order to immediately stop its use.

The union withdrew that request early in the new school year, though, but went through with filing an unfair practice complaint to the labor relations board.

Under the new schedule, classes were reduced from 90 minutes to 75, with faculty teaching all six of their classes over the entire school year. In years past, faculty taught three classes per semester over a two-semester school year.

The sides will now negotiate alongside an arbitrator with hopes of coming to a compromise.