Eight members of the Richmond School Board vocally expressed support Monday night for authorizing collective bargaining of a new contract between Superintendent Jason Kamras and his staff and a union that secures majority support from teachers and other employees.

That puts the board on track to become the first governmental entity in Central Virginia to sanction bargaining with a union since a new state law authorizing such bargaining went into effect May 1. Strikes, however, still would be barred.

However, after hearing cautionary words from its legal counsel, a majority of the School Board pulled back from approving a resolution three members had advanced outlining the process for selecting an exclusive bargaining agent for employees and for creating a contract and breaking an impasse over terms.

Instead, by a 5-4 vote, the board approved setting up a committee to review the proposal that three had advanced and potentially amend or rewrite it to make it more of a School Board document. The committee is to offer its recommendations by early December.

The vote came during a meeting at which the board also cleared the way for the administration to begin advertising again for a company to provide food services for students.

On the collective bargaining front, board member Liz B. Doerr, 1st District, proposed the review committee. Joining her to support creation of the committee were board Chair Cheryl L. Burke, 7th District; Dawn C. Page, 8th District; and Nicole Jones, 9th District. The fifth vote came from Dr. Shonda Harris-Muhammed, 6th District; one of the three members who had advanced the initial resolution.

Those casting no votes included Vice Chair Jonathan M. Young, 4th District, the lone opponent of any collective bargaining agree- ment; Mariah L. White, 2nd District; Kenya J. Gibson, 3rd District; and Stephanie M. Rizzi, 5th District.

Ms. Gibson and Ms. Rizzi were the other two members who had presented the initial resolution.

The committee is to consist of three board members, legal counsel, representatives of the Richmond Education Association or its state parent and employees.

The vote came after the Richmond Public Schools attorney Jonnell P. Lilly said that board members had not had an opportunity to review the terms of the resolution or to make certain that RPS is represented in the document.

“It is interesting that the rights of the employees and the rights of the associations are listed, but other resolutions, from other governing bodies, have included the rights of the employer,” Ms. Lilly said. “That is not listed in the present resolution. That should be concerning to the board.”

As Ms. Gibson has confirmed, Ms. Lilly also noted that the resolution was written by attorneys from the REA and the Virginia Education Association. The terms, Ms. Lilly said, would benefit them but might not be in the best interests of RPS. She said the board should want a document that also would “ensure and protect the district’s right.”

Ms. Lilly indicated that the board also should strive to be impartial as to the bargaining agent that might be chosen, given that other union organizations might want to compete to become the exclusive bargaining agent.

She also expressed concern that the resolu- tion would make it difficult for employees to get rid of the exclusive bargaining agent once the initial selection is made.

According to the resolution, employees seek- ing to oust the chosen agent would have to wait at least one year after the selection to start the process, she pointed out. And once a contract is in place, employees would have to wait for the expiration of the contract that could extend up to three years before seeking to change bargaining agents, Ms. Lilly noted.

While Ms. Gibson expressed dismay that the board “was just trying to kick this issue down the road,” Ms. Page said that was not the case.

“We are not against the resolution,” Ms. Page said. “We just have to do it right.”

In noting his opposition, Mr. Young said teacher concerns about being overworked need to be addressed. He also said that he knows of no school district in the nation where unionization or collective bargaining had raised teacher morale, improved student performance or resulted in increased retention of employees.

During the meeting’s public comment period, at least 20 speakers urged the board to approve collective bargaining to help improve working conditions. They spoke of burnout from working extended hours and having to fill in for absent teachers because of a lack of substitutes.

The speakers, all of whom were REA members, also told the board they are concerned about safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. As classes are being broken up, contact tracing becomes a challenge. Additionally, many schools and classrooms are above capacity, making it harder to socially distance, they said.

Mr. Kamras said there are 71 teacher vacancies, including 21 at the elementary level, 36 at the middle school level and 14 at the high school level.

He also reported that 305 students have tested positive for the virus. In addition, 44 staff members and eight volunteers have tested positive, suggesting that current policies are working well to limit spread, he said. Tracing efforts indicate that all contracted the virus from non-school contacts and brought it to their respective buildings.