UPDATE: Vancouver Public Schools and the Vancouver Education Association have also reached a tentative contract agreement and will vote on the contract Tuesday, with school possibly resuming Wednesday.
This story will be updated.
On the eve of Labor Day, the Camas School District its teacher union announced they had reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement, possibly averting a strike and clearing the way for school to start Tuesday.
The union will vote to formally approve the agreement Monday at a general membership meeting. Assuming the membership approves the deal, school will start as scheduled Tuesday, according to the school district.
“I’m very happy to not have to use the signs our picket captains built,” said Mark Gardner, CEA’s bargaining team lead.
The two-year deal, if approved will set teacher salaries at a range of $50,727 to a maximum of $97,529 for the most experienced teachers. The following year, 2019-2020, would increase teacher salary to a range of $52,868 to $100,110.
“You have to stand up for what you think is right,” Gardner said. “It’s hard. It can be painful at times. When you stand up for what is right, it can be worth it in the end.”
Though Camas narrowly avoided a strike, six other Clark County school districts remained out.
Districts around Washington this year are negotiating how to spend the additional money they’re slated to receive after two years of McCleary legislation. The Legislature allocated $7.3 billion over four years toward basic education during the 2017 session, then put another $1 billion toward teacher salaries this year.
The state’s largest school district, Seattle Public Schools, has a tentative agreement on the table, which will give a 10.5 percent raise for 6,000 district employees, The Seattle Times reported this weekend.
Locally, it appears increasingly unlikely students elsewhere in the Clark County will return to school on Tuesday, as teachers remain at odds with school administration over salary agreements.
The Washougal School District already announcing classes canceled.
“We remain committed to working with the association to reach an agreement so that we can all get back to serving the children in our community,” the district posted on its Facebook page Sunday evening.
Whether Camas’ settlement agreement has a domino effect on other still bargaining districts remains to be seen, though Gardner said the union and district agreed on what details to release publicly in hopes it might “impact neighboring districts positively” in their ongoing negotiations.
Clark County’s largest three districts continued to bargain Sunday, representatives from Evergreen, Vancouver and Battle Ground school districts’ teacher unions said.
“We have exchanged (three) proposals today,” said Linda Peterson, president of the Battle Ground Education Association, by text Sunday evening. “Still at the table. Here’s hoping.”
Evergreen Education Association President Bill Beville said that district and its union are “trading insignificant details” at this point. The two groups will continue bargaining Monday.
The Camas Education Association will meet to ratify the agreement at 5 p.m. Monday at Camas High School. The meeting is closed to the public, but details about the vote will be released following the meeting.
