Mediator to meet with Albion teachers’ union, district officials on Oct. 20

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 October 2026 at 9:46 am

Bruce Pritchett, a middle school social studies teacher, holds a sign demanding a fair contract for Albion teachers. About 30 teachers attended Monday’s board meeting, with several holding signs and most wearing T-shirts in support of the teachers’ union.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Two members of the negotiating team for the Albion Teachers Association, Josh Green at left at podium and Chris Keller, address the Board of Education during Monday’s board meeting.

The teachers have been without a contract since June 30, 2025. An impasse has been declared and a mediator will have his first session on Oct. 20 with the negotiating team of the ATA and district officials.

Green and Keller were limited to a 3-minute comment period during the board meeting. They said the district has been underspending its budget by about 25 percent the last three years or by about $10 million a year.

They said the teachers’ request for higher pay could easily be accommodated by the district if it spent the budgeted amounts for teachers.

Keller is a middle school English teacher and Green works in the high school as a social studies teacher. Green noted a 2022 report from the state comptroller that said the district had amassed reserves that were too high. AT that time the district’s reserves were about $17 million. Green and Keller said the reserves now top $50 million.

The two sides are $1.4 million apart in a five-year contract or about $300,000 a year.

Albion teachers are seeking raises that the ATA said reflects the cost-of-living increases and also the extra workload as the district demands more time each day for teachers to be in the classroom. (The first year of the contract would be an extra 10 minutes, and then 20 minutes from years 2 to 5.)

Mickey Edwards, the district superintendent, told the Orleans Hub in a recent interview that the needs to allow the district to stay within the state-imposed tax cap of about 2 percent annually. The new contract will set the floor for future contracts and the commitment from local taxpayers, Edwards said.

“My hope is we reach a conclusion that is fair and fiscally responsible for both parties and the community,” he said. “It’s about sustainability and being fair to the community.”

Albion hasn’t increased what it collects in property taxes in 18 of the last 20 years. The district has benefitted from steady increases in state aid, but Edwards said there is no guarantee that will continue in the future with the state.

The teachers have been without a contract for over a year. They still get their regular step increases and all other benefits while there isn’t a contract except teachers on the highest step of 24 because there isn’t a step increase for them. The district said the steps are an average of 3.8 percent (ranging from 2.6 to 10.6 percent).

The district is proposing in the new contract the regular pay hikes with step increases, plus additional raises of 6.9 percent in the first year, 3.3 percent in the second year, 3.5 percent the third year, 3.3 percent the fourth year and 3.4 percent in the fifth year. The total increase over the 5 years would be 22.1 percent or $2,742,032.

The ATA is seeking a contract that would be about $1.4 million over what the district is offering. The ATA is seeking the usual salary steps plus a 4.8 percent increase the first year, and then 10 percent the second year, 5.7 percent the third year, 4.7 percent the fourth year and 4.7 percent the fifth year.

The district wants teachers to work more instructional time because the district currently is close to the 990-hour minimum for the elementary school and 900-hour minimum for secondary levels, Edwards said. If there is a snow day or other emergency, Albion is cutting it very close to meet the minimum standard, Edwards said.

That added time represents 4.7 percent more time in the classroom for teachers. The ATA said the contract should reflect that additional workload, as well as the cost-of-living increases that the ATA is putting at 3.5 percent annually.