Mgt 445 - Miami School District Negotiation

Miami School District Negotiation

MGT/445

Due to the unexpected increase in enrollment in the Miami school district, the school has decided that the school boundaries will be redrawn for the upcoming year. This has become a concern to the parents because with the redrawing of the school boundaries, some of their children will be unable to attend their present schools. Parents are also voicing their concerns and objections to the school board with their reasons being - quality of education, the increase in travel time, crossing economic and cultural boundaries, its affect on property value, and the social affect it will have on their children.

The purpose of this paper is to identify who the stakeholders are, explain the negotiation strategy that can be used to support the school board's need to redraw the boundaries while addressing the stakeholders concerns, and explain how ethics and culture can affect decisions.

Stakeholders

A stakeholder is defined as "a person, group, or organization that has direct or indirect stake in an organization because it can affect or be affected by the organization's actions, objectives, and policies" (Business Dictionary, 2012).

The stakeholders in this scenario are the students, parents, staff and faculty, the school district and school board.

Students

The students are stakeholders because they are directly affected by the school board's decision to redraw the school boundaries. They are affected by having to change schools, travel a further distance to a new school, meet new individuals (teachers and students), and start over in a new place. This can affect a student socially, physically, educationally, and mentally. Whether this affect is positive or negative, the students will be impacted to some degree.

Parents

Parents are another stakeholder because they are the ones that have invested so much time and money into their child's education. By redrawing school boundaries, parents are worried that their children will lose out on their quality education. They will have to research this new school to determine if they curriculum is as adequate (less or more) as their child's previous school. They will also have to evaluate the cost of this new school compared to their child's previous school. There is also the concern that if their child has to change schools, it will also affect their busy schedules as well. Parents will have to adjust their schedules due to travel time to a new school, traffic, and other unforeseen circumstances that will arise while they are adjusting to this new schedule that was forced upon them. Parents will do anything for their children especially when it comes to their child's education.

Staff and faculty

The staff and faculty of the school are other stakeholders because with the changes that are coming up, the staff and faculty can be moved around to accommodate the school's budget. This means that a staff or faculty member can be transferred to another school in another district or can be terminated in order to accommodate the school's budget.

School district

The school district is another stakeholder. The school district has to assure parents that the redrawing of the school boundaries will not affect their child educationally or socially. They have to assure these parents that their lives will not change because of the changes. The school district will have to invest in staff and faculty and other things that will show parents, students, the district that they will do whatever it takes to accommodate them during the changes.