An ongoing contract negotiation stalemate has led the Allen East Education Association (AEEA) and the Allen East School District Board into a formal mediation in order to avoid a state-mandated deadline. The deadline would have required the school board to file an affidavit with the State Employment Relations Board regarding the failed contract negotiations, but the mediation decision postpones that deadline until March 23^rd unless an agreement is reached during the proceedings.

The AEEA and the School Board had been engaged in negotiations for five months from August until December 2014, at which time the school board made announcements indicating they believed negotiations were going well, and had agreed to a 1% salary increase. However, instead of agreeing with this positive assessment, the AEEA announced that the Board had instead simply decided negotiations were over and voted to implement their final contract offer as final, and began drawing up contracts -without waiting for the AEEA’s response. The AEEA filed formal charges against the Board, accusing it of engaging in unfair labor practices and a refusal to bargain in good faith.

The board issued a response stating this was part of the normal negotiation process, although such charges had never been filed before as part of the negotiation process. The AEEA specifically stated that the Board had retaliated against union members.

The AEEA represents 64 teachers employed by the Allen East School Board. If a settlement cannot be reached by the March 23^rd deadline, the state will step in to determine how to proceed.