Outgoing board member takes on Helder

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Outgoing Grand Rapids school board member David Allen accused the teachers union leadership Monday night of never having "any intention of settling a contract" with Grand Rapids Public Schools.

During remarks at his final meeting as a board member, Allen said union leaders, including president Paul Helder, did not bring a potential contract agreement to member teachers in February. District teachers just finished their second school year without a contract.

"Imagine that: Seven people deciding the fate of over 1,700. That does not sound like a democracy, it sounds like a dictatorship, ironically one of the things of which [the union] accuses (superintendent) Doctor Taylor," said Allen, a one-time board president. He said the union's tactics have mirrored a 2003 warning presented by a staffer at Michigan Association of School Boards.

In an interview after the meeting, Helder told 24 Hour News 8 Allen is entitled to his opinion. But he said there never was a tentative agreement he could have presented to his membership. And the union president said he would literally be willing to be locked in a room with negotiators until a contract is settled.

"We're offering right now again: Go into a building, chain the doors - we'll get flat food, you can slide it under the door," Helder said. "And we'd like Doctor Taylor there as well."

Allen, who has served since 2002, also discussed what he saw as successes during his tenure: The passage of a school bond, making needed building and program cuts, more schools meeting state and federal standards and looming high school reforms.

Also Monday night, the board approved pink slips for 141 teachers.

The district typically recalls most of the teachers who receive the slips, although because of lower than expected retirements, that may not be the case this year.

The district is cutting 95 full-time positions. Some will be cut through not replacing retirees, some teachers will go from full- to part-time and others will be laid off. Helder said he expects about 30 retirements this year.