Blue Mountain Union School District Faces Teacher Contract Dispute and Labor Complaint
The Blue Mountain Union School District is embroiled in a significant dispute over teacher salaries, with teachers starting the school year without a contract. After nearly a year of collective bargaining, representatives from the school board and the teachers' union reached a tentative three-year agreement in July. However, the school board subsequently voted down this proposal twice. This rejection led the Vermont-NEA, the union representing the district's teachers, to file a complaint with the Vermont Labor Relations Board. The union alleges that school board members engaged in bad-faith bargaining and retaliated against them, specifically claiming that board members who helped negotiate the tentative agreement then advocated against it to the full board, which is a violation of Vermont labor law. School board members, including Dan LaCoss, contend that the proposed salaries would push district costs above the state's excess spending threshold, leading to increased taxes for local residents under Vermon... 
