TILTON — A state board has ruled that the Winnisquam Regional School District’s school board had the authority to enact a new teacher evaluation plan — which takes student test scores into account and requires substantial teacher goal plans — without approval of the teachers’ union.

In fact, the New Hampshire Public Employee Labor Relations Board ruled that the Winnisquam Regional Teachers Association was wrong to ask for arbitration on the school board-approved policy.

“The association did commit an unfair labor practice on account of its wrongful demand for arbitration, all in violation of RSA 273-A:5, II (£). The association is directed to cease and desist in its demand for arbitration,” the board ruled last week.

The teachers association objected to the Professional Staff Evaluation Plan developed by a committee and approved the school board last June, said Brenda Lawrence, president of the association.

The teachers had several concerns, many of them related to the language of the new plan. The two main concerns regard a change in the district’s prior teacher evaluation policy in which much of the evaluation was based on observation of teachers during class, Lawrence said.

The new plan is based in part on student test scores in a teacher’s class as a measure of student progress, which the teachers believe should not be used as an overall true indicator of student growth, she said. It also requires teachers to develop goal plans, which would prove very time-consuming to teachers who already have a heavy workload, she said.

The association requested that their grievances go to an arbitrator, claiming the school board needed the teachers’ consent before adopting the plan.

But the board ruled that the school board did not violate any rules, and said the agreement between the district and the teachers says |”that the authority to adopt or reject the 2011 (evaluation plan) was within the managerial prerogative and policy-making authority of the school board, and on that basis this dispute is expressly excluded from grievance arbitration ...

Lawrence said the teachers are moving forward and working to improve the evaluation process.

“We had legitimate concerns, and we are disappointed with the ruling,” Lawrence said. “But we’re working with the school board on new revisions to the plan that we hope will address our concerns, we have mutual agreement to work on revisions.”

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Dan Seufert may be reached at dseufert@newstote.com.