St Louis Park High School - Echowan Yearbook (St Louis Park, MN)

Page 23 text:

Scrutinized by cameras, Howard Freedland introduces speakers at a student-organized discussion of the salary dispute. Dr. B. Robert Lewis ponders a facet of the Meet and Confer Law as he delineates Board policy to the student assembly. Sandwiched by conflicting opinions, students unite to form protest committees, walk-out demonstrations and picket lines. 19

Page 22 text:

Conflict and dissent troubled school boards across the state as teachers demanded salary increases to meet the rising cost of living. Negotiators often grew bitter when salary proposals were at a stalemate. In St. Louis Park, the Teacher Council, headed by lelartd Erickson, requested an adjustment panel' to aid in the discussion of salary, grievance procedures and other desired improvements. When the School Board took no action, the teachers threatened to withhold summer-school services and all but remedial classes, taught without pay, were cancelled. An adjustment panel was formed in June of 1968, but its proposal was refused because it advocated a dollar increase, a disadvantage to career teachers, rather than a percentage increase. A threat to withhold extra-curricular activities was carried out the first week of school. On Friday, September 5, eighty-seven senior high-school teachers called in sick, closing the school for that day. Communications were reopened and negotiations progressed until September 24, when a majority of the teachers voted to accept the latest School Board proposal. This included a $7,000 annual starting salary with a maximum of $16,198. Concerned with the stalemate of salary negotiations, students air their opinions and discuss settlement possibilities with School Board and faculty members. St. Louis Park Board of Education: Mrs. Winifred H. Northcott, treasurer, Dr. Jud-son M. Haroer. director. Dr. B. Robert Lewis, chairman, A. Bertram Locke, clerk, Robert D. Hanson, director, and S. Allen Friedman, director

Page 24 text:

Balancing budgets and directing curriculums, the Administration kept the school system , running smoothly in spite of faculty salary disagreements. Aided by the TIES computer, administrators distributed the $12.4 million operational allowance for salaries, maintenance and equipment. Others supervised employment and coordinated course schedules to insure students of a well-rounded education. Office Manager and Director of Business Affairs: Howard W. MacMillan and Richard G. Duthler. Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds and Coordinator of Special Education: Robert B. Sewall and James L. Gavenda. Director of Student Personnel Services, Director of Secondary Education and Curriculum Coordinator-. Keith Dawson, Edward F. Foltmer and Robert D. Ramsey. Athletic Director: Lloyd Holm. 20