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Show Teachers erewd beard mtgo Teachers crowded the board room of the Alpine School District Tuesday night in support of Nick Franklin, Alpine Education Association president, who presented a statement on the teachers position on contract negotiations. Teachers representatives and school district officials had failed to reach accord in negotiations despite a Monday meeting, which resumed talks which had broken down last week. i Mr. Franklin said he was encouraged en-couraged by the board's initiative to open negotiations again although there doesn't seem to have been any major changes at this time "but the teams are still talking." He said teachers are more resolved and united than ever. "This is evidence by the extreme concern and attention that they are giving to negotiations." "In the past they have been concerned but not this upset," Mr. Franklin said. He said he feels a fact-finder will have to be brought in to prove to the teachers that there is no money and that the district has taken all possible steps to find additional ad-ditional funds if they want to settle for less than a 5 percent base salary increase - a step other districts have taken. Dr. Richard Sudweeks, board president, told Mr. Franklin - and teachers present - "We are desirious of finding a fair and equitable solution. There are arguable points where different people have different points of view. "We want to find a reasonable solution. We hope we can find one that is a fair solution." "You can say we have made progress in that we have started to talk again," Franklin said Tuesday morning prior to the board meeting. Negotiators, he said, are working on terminology questions and some of the minor points and "in the process hopefully someone will come up with a solution to the major items of salaries and benefits." "We are trying to get some of the minor points out of the way now," he said. Although a fact finder hasn't been brought in, Mr. Franklin says the AEA still has this in mind if needed. Dr. Clark L. Cox, district superintendent, agreed that some progress had been made in that both sides are continuing to negotiate in good faith. "We met yesterday (Monday) afternoon," he said, and another f session is scheduled for next Monday. |