Springfield school District 186 and its teachers union will return to the bargaining table this week… and this time, they’ll have the help of a federal mediator.
Difficulties in finding and scheduling a mediator stalled the talks for several weeks this fall, and both sides agreed to resume negotiations without a mediator earlier this month. But then the unexpected death of a district negotiator, school board member Mike Zimmers, led to another temporary delay.
Now the district and the Springfield Education Association are scheduled to resume talks, with the mediator on hand, on Tuesday afternoon. Staffing, school security, and compensation are among the outstanding issues still to be resolved.
