BRISTOL — The attorney representing the Newfound Teachers’ Union described the revelation in July that their contracts were invalid because the collective bargaining agreement they thought had passed actually failed as “seismic. I mean, I’ve been doing this more than 25 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Terri Donovan of the American Federation of Teachers-NH said she remains perplexed: “How could there be such late arrival of this news that there was even an issue? The contract had been signed, individual contracts had been signed, nothing had been said to anybody.”
She is not alone in wondering how those in charge of the school district warrant failed to realize that passage of the teachers’ contract warrant article required a 60 percent affirmative vote, rather than a simple majority. Residents of the community have questioned who was responsible for the confusion.
Donovan disputed Business Manager Mike Limanni’s statement that “both the union’s attorney and our attorney were involved”, saying she had no role in the dealing with the NH Department of Revenue Administration which certifies the vote.
“We negotiate in good faith, they have to crunch the numbers. They have to prepare the warren article. How could we have known?” she asked. “I don’t remember at public hearings or at the school board meeting or budget committee meetings, because I watched most of them, did they ever say the contract exceeds the [budget] cap and it would have to hit 60%?”