In a major victory for Pinellas teachers, an arbitrator has ruled that the district’s new seven-period middle school schedule violates the teachers’ contract. The district must revert to the previous six-period schedule when the second semester begins Jan. 20, Christopher M. Shulman, a Tampa-based arbitrator, said in a 10-page ruling.

The decision prompted a hastily arranged meeting this afternoon between district officials and members of the Pinellas teachers union.

District officials instituted a seven-period day this year in middle schools primarily as a way to save $2.2-million during a budget crisis, but also as a way to launch a reform effort. The change makes room in the schedule for state-mandated remediation courses and PE, plus more electives that, according to the district, will get students more interested in school.

But the Pinellas teachers union said in a Nov. 20 hearing at district headquarters that the schedule requires them to teach six classes instead of the five called for in the contract, without any extra pay. See some of our previous coverage here.

Shulman declined to award teachers back pay, saying they had only lost planning time. He also urged the district and the union to come together on a compromise schedule before Jan. 20.

“We can probably put something together within the next six weeks that’ll work, but it’s going to have to be on different terms,” said Jade Moore, executive director of the union. “The bottom line is that it should have never happened.”