Trimester Schedule Set for Attleboro High

There will be a radical change to the calendar beginning this fall. School Committee Chair Mike Tyler announced at the meeting on Monday that the governing body had instructed the administration to implement the trimester schedule, despite the objection of the teachers union.

The Attleboro Education Association voted last month to oppose the change from the current semester system. The school committee had been talking to the union about a compromise, but negotiations had failed, Tyler said.

"Given the unavoidable time constraints of the impending conclusion of the academic year and the failure to reach a ratified agreement between the school committee and the AEA, the school committee declared the negotiations to have reached an impasse," said Tyler in a prepared statement. "In light of the impasse in the negotiations, the school committee has exercised its legal right to instruct the administration to implement the trimester schedule at Attleboro High School."

Committee members Brenda Furtado and Barbara Craw opposed the move.

"I felt we didn't have enough information to move forward," said Furtado, who added that it was not a good idea to implement the new system without an agreement with the union.