By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

In an otherwise cordial meeting of the Hays USD 489 board, the topic of ongoing negotiations with teachers was the topic of some debate.

In what was the only contentious debate of the evening the Board disagreed on who would continue the district’s talks with the Hays National Education Association.

Despite being replaced by voters on the Hays USD 489 Board of Education, longtime board member Greg Schwartz will continue to serve on the district’s negotiating team.

The district, led by Schwartz and board member Lance Bickle, is in the midst of talks with the Hays teachers union on a new deal.

Since members of the negotiating team are appointed by the board, the negotiator does not have to be an elected board member. Board member Josh Waddell said the previous board had committed to finishing negotiations with the current team and stood by that declaration, even as the current board sought options for the negotiation team.

“We had talked previously about negotiations and those things and I guess we need to have that discussion then, look at what our options are and how we want to proceed,” Superintendent Dean Katt said.

“Greg has been the lead negotiator, I guess he’s interested still, that’s one of the options to have Greg continue to do that. We could appoint someone else,” he added. “There’s other options.”

After debate, the final vote landed at 5-2 to continue negotiations with the current team in place. Members Luke Oborny and Paul Adams — both new to the board in 2015-16 — voted against the move.