Part of this year’s teaching curriculum, it seems, is contract negotiations.
Washougal teachers have been working without a contract since Aug. 31. They join a number of Washington school districts, including Battle Ground, where negotiations have continued well into the school year.
“This is something that should have been finished months ago,” said Frank Zahn, president of the Washougal Association of Educators. “We are essentially without a contract. We chose to go into the school year working and negotiating.”
Bargaining began on June 18, and nearly a dozen sessions have resulted in agreement on many issues.
But the district says the remaining points “have significant financial considerations.”
After a monthlong lull in talks, mediated sessions with help from the state Public Employment Relations Commission will start today and Friday.
“That mediation has been scheduled for several weeks,” Washougal Superintendent Mike Stromme said. “We’re waiting to begin that, and we’re hopeful we’re able to bring closure and come to a conclusion.”
The two sides have agreed to keep proposals confidential while talks are ongoing, though compensation is a major sticking point.
“They said they can’t afford to fund increases, when they do have money to do so,” Zahn said. “If they were hurting, we would not be asking.”
The district says on its website that it has a “responsibility to build a sustainable, balanced budget that considers the needs of the whole educational system.”
Zahn said teachers are asking for an increase in their TRI (time, responsibility and incentive) pay. That covers time spent outside the classroom, such as grading papers and planning.
“Increasingly we’ve been given more to do with less money to do it,” he said.
Zahn said Washougal’s TRI pay is the lowest of all the area districts.
“As some of my younger colleagues have commented, they have stayed in Washougal because they like the environment; they like the kids; (and) they think the district has been a great place to work in,” Zahn said. “But if you can move over one district and get a $7,000 to $10,000 raise …”
District data shows Washougal teachers make between $38,000 and $71,000 per year in total compensation, plus $9,360 in district contributions to health benefits.
While negotiations drag on, the district says teachers are working under their expired contract and received a 3 percent raise from the state at the beginning of the year. Stromme wouldn’t comment on other details of contract negotiations due to confidentiality.
“The negotiations led us to this next step where we believe a third-party mediator could assist us in bringing resolution to a number of the items remaining to be agreed upon,” Stromme said.
Though Zahn said a strike has been discussed, he considers it a “last resort.” Still, he said, that decision is up to his Washougal Association of Educators members.
