Attorney says Grand Forks schools should refuse to bargain with non-teaching staff

Yahoo

09-02-2025

Feb. 8—GRAND FORKS — An attorney retained by Grand Forks Public Schools is recommending the School Board should negotiate with only some of the district staff represented by the local teachers union.
Attorney Rachel Bruner, of Pearce Durick LLC, has told board members to reject a negotiating petition from the Grand Forks Education Association ahead of this spring's bargaining season,
according to a memo
included in the packet for the upcoming Monday, Feb. 10, School Board meeting.
Bruner is instead recommending the board negotiate only with the district's classroom teachers, a move that could potentially exclude librarians, school counselors, psychologists, occupational and physical therapists and other non-teaching roles.
Under state law, school employee unions file petitions to negotiate with their school districts that include a description of the employees they represent.
The GFEA has historically represented teachers as well as non-administrative professionals that Grand Forks Public Schools collectively calls "certified staff."
A memo from Superintendent Terry Brenner, though, says Bruner recommends the School Board reject the GFEA's petition on behalf of certified staff and instead approve a "less broad negotiating unit" consisting only of employees licensed or approved to teach by the Educational Standards and Practice Board and "employed primarily as a classroom teacher."
Bruner did not return a Friday afternoon call seeking comment.
The change stems from
a recent state Supreme Court ruling
that determined school psychologists in Fargo Public Schools did not qualify as "teachers" under state law and were not covered by collective bargaining rules.
"We have to follow the law of the land," said Grand Forks School Board President Dave Berger. "And when a Supreme Court decision comes down that says these bargaining units can only represent these employees licensed to teach by (ESPB) or approved to teach, we have to navigate our way through that."
The ruling means school boards across the state will have to reevaluate who falls under the definition of "teacher" after the Supreme Court ruling.
Last week,
the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reported,
Fargo Public Schools employees packed a Board of Education meeting where non-teaching staff, including librarians and counselors, pleaded with the board to remain under the teacher contract agreement.
The GFEA is expected to organize a similar response. A post on a private GFEA Facebook group is imploring members to pack Monday's School Board meeting.
Two GFEA leadership members declined to comment for this story ahead of Monday's meeting.
Berger says the board will enter executive session on Monday to weigh whether to accept the GFEA's current petition on behalf of all certified staff. For his part, he argues the court's ruling would benefit certified staff with high-demand degrees, like psychologists and therapists, who could negotiate for higher salaries individually.
"Those psychologists, those occupational therapists, physical therapists and so on, they have a broader marketplace, and they can be employed outside of the classroom," Berger said. "There are many of them who have asked to be out of this bargaining unit in the first place because their salary would be more competitive."
This tracks with the Supreme Court's case, which stemmed from the Fargo school district hiring a school psychologist above the rate negotiated by the teachers union.
Berger said the district and Grand Forks teachers union added a new pay scale for employees with advanced degrees in 2023 in a bid to attract more "high-demand" degree holders.
Asked via text message by the Herald what the new bargaining rules meant for non-teaching staff without high-demand degrees, Berger said their status would depend on whether the NSPB considered them classroom staff.
In Grand Forks Public Schools, employees like paraprofessionals, custodians and front desk staff are considered "classified staff," and do not have bargaining rights.
Nick Archuleta, president of statewide teachers union North Dakota United, says Grand Forks is jumping the gun if it follows through on Bruner's recommendation.
He said other school districts are continuing to negotiate with the same bargaining units as they have in years past.
The Fargo School Board's negotiating committee is recommending its board approve a petition submitted by the Fargo Education Association where the union would continue to negotiate for both teaching and non-teaching staff.
"I don't know why Ms. Bruner would want to exclude those teachers in Grand Forks, or why Grand Forks would want to exclude them from the bargaining unit either," Archuleta said.
"The system that's in place has served both the school district and the educators and administrators well, and I'm not exactly certain why they would want to upset that apple cart."
Aimee Copas, executive director of the North Dakota Council for Educational Leadership, says the Supreme Court's decision means school districts may exclude non-teaching employees from negotiations, not that they must.
Few superintendents she's spoken to say they plan to change their negotiating rules, she said. Educators are already on edge with this year's legislative session.
"If things are going well right now, why shake things up?" she asked. "If I was back in a building, I wouldn't make any changes. That's just my personal opinion as a former superintendent."