Members of four unions representing District 205 employees voiced their concerns about working without a contract since July. Plus what they see as disrespectful behavior from the administration's bargaining team. The unions have now called in a mediator to move ahead.

"Let the negotiations continue to move forward, we can reach an agreement," says Madeline Sherrod, President of the AFSCME unit representing food service workers.

The four groups in negotiations are food service workers, secretaries, hearing impaired interpreters and paraprofessionals. All District bargaining unions have joined in a new coalition called Unity 205 to express their discontent.

Superintendent LaVonne Sheffield called the statements negotiating tactics. She is not part of the negotiating team, but says she has not heard of any disrespect.

Also Tuesday night, District leaders discussed efforts to boost test scores. Over the last five years, 35 schools have showed growth while 8 lag behind. Administrators are pushing for changes to the federal No Child Left Behind Standards so that teachers and kids can work toward more attainable goals.

As a whole, the District did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress last year, requiring them to submit an improvement plan to the state. That includes targeted interventions in ten under-performing schools, coaching teachers better, and aligning curriculum with the state standards.

District leaders are also working on separate alternative plans for their most challenged kids.

"We need to take children who are having difficulty in traditional environments and put them in non-traditional environments and develop programs that are specific to their needs," says Dr. Sheffield.

The school board also heard an update on a major technology upgrade aimed at making data more available to drive instruction. Administrators say the process is on target for completion by January 1st and expected to come in under the 7 million dollar budget.