May 3, 2021 By Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com An arbitration hearing was held last week over a level IV grievance by teachers in the Brighton Area Schools district involving a claim that they have been working in a hazardous environment because proper social distancing could not be assured. The grievance was filed by the Brighton Education Association, which represents the districtâs approximately 325 teachers. The teachers are in the second year of a 3-year contract that expires on Aug. 30, 2022. BEA President Barry Goode says the grievance was filed at the beginning of the school year because, according to the state, proper social distancing â even with a mask on â is a minimum of six feet. He maintains that the âReturn to Schoolâ plan, as it was called, is unsafe because proper social distancing cannot be maintained due to the physical dimensions of classrooms, school hallways, and school buses.