Zeeland Schools cuts back on half-days, approves union contract
ZEELAND — A new contract for educators at Zeeland Public Schools, including a renegotiated calendar, was approved by the ZPS Board of Education on Monday, July 17.
The board unanimously approved a one-year contract with the Zeeland Education Association, the district’s teachers’ union, for the 2023-24 school year.
More: Zeeland Schools votes down calendar with 24 half-days — what happens now?
A previous contract proposal was voted down in June after parents expressed concerns about the 2023-24 school year calendar, which featured more than 20 half-days. The calendar was posted ahead of contract approval, an atypical move, to give families a heads-up.
Several parents attended the board’s June meeting to voice concerns during public comment. The concerns were enough for the board to vote down the contract to have the calendar adjusted.
The calendar in the newly approved agreement features 15 half-days.
Last year, Zeeland students had 17 or 18 half-days — the number was different for elementary and secondary buildings. The initial agreement proposed raising that number to 23 for elementary schoolers and 24 for middle and high schoolers, with 16 of those half-days used for teacher collaboration.
Some of the remaining 15 half-days will be used for collaboration following a model called "Professional Learning Community."
“Seven of them will be for collaboration time, PLC work, staff development, that sort of thing,” ZPS Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services Jon Voss said. “Eight of them are those things that come up over the course of the year — exams, conferences, Tulip Time.”
PLCs allow educators to “share best practices, learn from each other and sharpen their skills to return to their classrooms better equipped to meet their students' needs,” the district has said.
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Voss said the rest of the contract was unchanged during the additional negotiation session, which he said lasted about three hours. Highlights of the agreement include a raise for teachers, a focus on time-off flexibility, additional teacher leadership positions and more student clubs.
ZPS teachers will receive a 4 percent pay increase, which Voss said is “one of the highest ones we’ve had in recent memory.” Board members were supportive of the pay increase and other items in the initial agreement.
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelMitch.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Zeeland Schools cuts back on half-days, approves union contract
