[brief] The Board is a public employer within the meaning of the Act.  (Pa219.)  The Association, a local unit of the statewide [...] ([...]), is the majority representative of the professional staff members employed by the Board.  (Id.)  The Association is composed of approximately 225 Board employees.  (Id.)  Bargaining Council membership is open to all Association members.\(^3/\) (Pa220.)  Non-Association members are not able to join the group.  (Id.)  In negotiation sessions going forward, the Association does not seek to include on its Bargaining Council members of the public, other unions, or groups of employees who are not part of its designated negotiations team.  (Pa240.)  The Bargaining Council was present at a negotiations session on at least one occasion during the parties’ previous round of negotiations, for their 2019-2022 CNA.  (Pa220, 237.)  The number of individuals on the Bargaining Council during --- \(^3/\) The Association modeled its Bargaining Council on the [...]’s advocacy of the concept of “open bargaining” by “bringing the [local unit’s] membership into the bargaining process” through the use of “expanded teams” during contract negotiations.  (Pa223.)  In the stipulated record, the Association is described as taking that concept to the “next level” through “full-on open bargaining: the entire membership is invited to attend bargaining sessions with the board and participate in the process. ”  (Pa224.) those negotiations ranged from “over 50” to “about 100. ”  (Pa223.)  Bargaining Council members were active participants in those negotiations, and were not just passive observers of that process.  (Pa225.)  Members of the public were not present during the parties’ 2019-2022 negotiations.  (Pa225-226, Pa240.)  The Association agreed (in the 2019-2022 negotiations) to conduct a negotiations session without the presence of its Bargaining Council.  (Pa220.)  Neither party filed unfair practice charges during those negotiations, and the parties reached an agreed-upon settlement of their 2019-2022 contract under those conditions.  (Id.)  Prior to the commencement of negotiations for a successor agreement to the 2019-2022 CNA, the Association notified the Board that it again sought to have the Bargaining Council present at negotiation sessions.  (Pa221.)  The Board again objected.  (Id.)  The Association certified it is willing to set ground rules pertaining to the maximum size of the Bargaining Council and the number of sessions it may attend in current negotiations.  (Pa227.)  The Board refused to commence negotiations for the parties’ successor agreement after receiving advance notice of the Association’s intention to use its Bargaining Council in negotiations.  (Pa221.)  The stipulated record contained no facts indicating the Board was (or is) unable to accommodate the presence of the Bargaining Council in a negotiation session due to room size limitations or concerns regarding safety and security, or that Bargaining Council members demonstrated ill will or otherwise behaved disruptively during prior negotiations or will do so in current negotiations.  (Pa238.)  The stipulated record contained no evidence that confidentiality ground rules were broken during the 2019-2022 negotiations.  (Id.)  LEGAL ARGUMENT