Arbitrator rules in City Honors legal case

An arbitrator has sided with the Buffalo Teachers Federation in a legal battle to keep 5.5 teaching positions at City Honors.

According to the arbitration award, the district must rescind its decision to eliminate the positions for the 2017-2018 school year.

The district must also cease and desists from reprisals of any kind against members of the BTF for the implementation of the award in this case.

The award also states any future elimination of teaching positions at City Honors as a result of hiring teaching aides must be narrowly tailored to mee the economic needs of the district and be applied in a BTF membership neutral manner.

The school district released the following statement Monday:

The District will continue to strive toward its goal of ensuring that all the schools in the District receive equitable resources.  There are no actions that need to be taken by the District to comply with the arbitrator’s decision as no teachers at City Honors were moved during the 2017-2018 school year.  Furthermore, the 2018-2019 budget that also included teacher reductions at City Honors was adopted by the Board after recommendations were made by the school based management team.   The District intends to appeal the Arbitrator’s decision so it may continue to make student-centered budgetary decisions. 

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