BATTLE GROUND — Battle Ground Public Schools intends to file an injunction in Clark County Superior Court against its teachers union in an effort to stop the ongoing strike, which enters its 11th day Thursday.
By a vote of 4 to 0, the school board voted Wednesday night at a special meeting to hire Tacoma law firm Vandeberg, Johnson and Gandara to “take any and all lawful steps necessary” to end the strike. Board president Ken Root had an excused absence.
Superintendent Mark Ross said that injunction could come as soon as Thursday.
Teachers and community members crowded the board room, but remained nearly silent during the short meeting. Many carried signs urging Ross to “negotiate the competitive, professional pay necessary to continue attracting and keeping the qualified, caring, committed educators Battle Ground students deserve.”
The board did not take public comment at the meeting, but hundreds of teachers and community members gathered outside the Lewisville Campus, stretching in single file down Northwest Fifth Street in Battle Ground. Some recorded video testimony, which union leaders said they would send directly to the board members.
Kaylee Milosevich, a third-grade teacher at Glenwood Heights Primary School, was among those teachers standing in the rain outside the board meeting.
“We want to be back in our classrooms,” Milosevich said.
She criticized the district for its efforts to take legal action against its teachers.
“We feel like it’s another play out of their playbook to get us to do what they want to do,” she said.
Board members said they also wanted to see students back in class and were making efforts to make that happen. Board member Troy McCoy shared concern for students who receive special education services or free- and reduced-price lunches.
“My concern is for the kids who are hurt by the strike,” McCoy said. “And I hope you understand that.”
The district and teachers union remain deadlocked over increases to teacher salaries in light of additional funding coming to the district following the resolution of the 2012 McCleary decision by the state Supreme Court. The two sides are in mediated negotiations with a representative from the Public Employment Relations Commission. The district and union are also expected to enter a process called “fact finding” next week, which, according to the district, will offer an opportunity to review and present facts about the district budget.
Battle Ground Public Schools is the only local district whose teachers remain on strike after six other Clark County districts reached settlements over the last two weeks. Strikes also continue in Tacoma and Tumwater.
Following the unanimous vote, Ross held a press conference — a first for the district under his tenure, and a rare move for the suburban north Clark County school district at all.
“We need our kids back in school,” Ross said.
Marina Heinz, vice president and designated spokeswoman for the Battle Ground Education Association, called the decision unfortunate.
“The only way we’re going to get a tentative agreement is at the bargaining table,” she said.
Battle Ground Public Schools would be the only Clark County district to file an injunction against its teachers. In Longview Public Schools, a judge ordered teachers back to work Friday after the district filed an injunction, according to The Daily News in Longview. The union and district settled Sunday, avoiding the possibility of teachers striking in contempt of court.
