HARRISONBURG, Va. (ROCKTOWN NOW) – Collective bargaining is once again on the table for Harrisonburg City Schools.

During Tuesday night’s school board work session, Superintendent Dr. Michael Richards presented a draft resolution that board members could support and would also address concerns brought up by the Harrisonburg Education Association in previous discussions.

Richards said that he supports collective bargaining, emphasizing the need for staff self-determination. He pointed out the difference between the decision-making process of a collective bargaining unit versus that of the Superintendent’s Staff Advisory Council.

“I feel very strongly that healthy organizations, empower their staff to have self-determination, and so it’s important that, for me, it’s important that we have that, and then they get to decide what they’re going to do, and they decide their agenda, they get to control it,” Richards said.

Richards plans to bring the resolution before the board at their next meeting on September 3.