THE WALTON COUNTY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION (WCEA) representatives and the Walton County School District(WCSD) representatives sat down for a brief round of negotiations the evening of Dec. 5, 2016. New WCSD negotiator Leonard Dietzen has replaced Jerry Copland for the district. No new movement on contracts or agreements was made due to new Superintendent Russell Hughes and the school board not being able to meet until the following night. Dietzen ushered in a new era of less confrontational negotiations, asking for some “leaps of faith” from the WCEA and entry into a non-adversarial relationship between the two groups as they try to work towards crafting language “together” to benefit teachers and the district, and allowing Hughes to work with principals, staff, teachers and the district to find common ground and new understandings. (Photo by Alicia Leonard)
