Ramsey November 23, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 5 The current round of teachers’ contract talks in Ramsey recently became more complicated after acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf declared a portion of the last contract null and void. Cerf found that, when it signed the last settlement in 2009, the Ramsey Board of Education acted outside its legal scope, by agreeing to a four-year contract. State law limits board to three-year agreements. The agreement effectively covered 2007-11. District officials and the teachers’ union are now in discussions regarding what will be done about the 2010-11 portion of the last agreement, which is the part of the contract the judge ruled null. An official who is familiar with the contract issue said the 2010-11 agreement included a 4.35 salary increase. The official acknowledged that there is no defined remedy in this instance. The teachers’ union is reportedly planning to appeal Cerf’s ruling. The board and teachers’ union are currently in contract talks for a new agreement. The board’s Negotiations Committee and the Ramsey Education Association met in January to discuss a new pact in anticipation of the June 30, 2011 expiration of the last contract. After a series of meetings, both sides ended up in mediation with a state-assigned official. After several sessions with the state mediator, both sides agreed to go to the fact-finding stage. A fact-finder has yet to be appointed to the case. The last contract signed by the teachers and trustees was District must regroup after judge’s contract ruling finalized in April 2009. At that time, the agreement covered two school years (2007-08 and 2008-09) retroactively and 2009-10 and 2010-11. After that agreement was signed, a new school board was seated, and asked the board attorney to review the contract in light of the financial crunch. Administrative Law Judge Ellen Bass had previously ruled that, in inking this contract, the board had covered two separate agreements. The second grade teachers at Tisdale School in Ramsey raised their torches to Miss Liberty in honor of her 125th birthday. The children in second grade have been learning about immigration. Let your light shine!