By Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com


Arbitrators have issued two rulings denying grievances filed by the Brighton Education Association pertaining to COVID pandemic procedures in the Brighton Area Schools during the 2020-21 school year. The BEA represents about 325 Brighton teachers at the bargaining table.

In one Level IV grievance, the BEA contended that “The district is requiring employees to work in unsafe or hazardous conditions. Teachers are being instructed to clean their own classrooms, using a chemical that is dangerous to staff and students alike.” In the grievance, the BEA requested that a third-party contractor be required to clean the classrooms. However, in his ruling, Ellis said, “The district’s policy of having all assigned classroom teachers spray all student desks in his (or) her classroom at the end of each class change…may be continued unabated…under the collective bargaining agreement.”

The most recent ruling, issued earlier this month, relates to social distancing, the BEA charging that, “(The) district is requiring employees to teach in classrooms where social distancing precautions are not possible.” The BEA requested a relief plan that involved either changing “the current Back to School plan to reflect all on-line learning or creat(ing) an alternative schedule that allows 50% or lower student capacity in each building.”

In his ruling, arbitrator Patrick McDonald stated, in his words, “After reviewing all of the exhibits as well as the testimony presented by the parties, I do conclude that, unfortunately for the Brighton Education Association, it has not been able to sustain its burden of demonstrating that its bargaining unit members were required to work in an unsafe or hazardous conditions while engaging in teaching duties.”

BEA President Barry Goode said that, while disappointed with the arbitrators’ rulings, he was not surprised. He told WHMI that the BEA strategy was designed more as a wake-up call to the board to prevent such things from happening again. “The reason to file (the grievance) was to change their future behavior,” Goode said. “It’s doubtful they’d want to go through the same experience again.”

Addressing a potential future issue, Goode said he was concerned about the Delta variant getting out of control, in which case masks would be required again for teachers. Goode added that, regardless of the fact that, as of this date, masks are not being mandated for this fall, many teachers in Brighton are going to wear masks when school resumes out of safety concerns.

Asked to comment on the rulings, Superintendent Matt Outlaw told WHMI that he would rather emphasize the positive, saying, “We really appreciated the hard work and dedication of all of our employees through the first 16 months of the pandemic.” He added that, “(The board and administration) will continue to work as a team to make the 2021-22 school year the best that it can be for all…Brighton Area Schools students.”