Mediation began Wednesday between the Kent Education Association and the Kent School District in hopes of averting a strike that could delay the start of the school year.
With school scheduled to begin Aug. 31, both sides have expressed their desire to reach a settlement in the contract dispute which has played out over the course of the year and heated up this summer.
But with discussions seeming to go nowhere, the district on Aug. 14 declared an impasse in negotiations and officially requested mediation from the Washington Public Employee Relations Commission, a request joined by the KEA.
Mediator Guy Coss was assigned to help the two sides reach an agreement. He began meeting with both parties at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Mill Creek Middle School.
KEA officials staged a rally in support of their bargaining unit that morning in front of the school before contract mediation officially began.
Wednesday’s mediation session lasted until after 9 p.m. and according to union leaders, tentative agreements were reached on four “small” points, mainly dealing with the district providing boxes and tape for teachers who are changing classrooms or buildings for any reason.
In addition, a tentative agreement was reached giving teachers and their doctors the right to decide when a teacher returns from maternity leave.
“We’re pleased at least we have something,” KEA President Lisa Brackin-Johnson said Thursday. “We still have a lot of work to do on the major issues.”
District officials also had a positive response.
“The district continues to be hopeful for a speedy resolution,” District Spokesperson Beck Hanks said.
The union has stated its issues are “time, workload and compensation” and have put forth a proposal of more than 30 points organized under those headings, including lower class sizes, fewer meetings for teachers, and a salary increase.
The district countered with a proposal that offered an increase in total compensation for all teachers and maintains class sizes at their current level. In order to find the money for the pay increases, the district cut $3.4 million from administration and central office costs and an additional $3.2 million from programs, based on community priorities gleaned from a series of workshops this past winter.
Neither side could see eye to eye. Depending on what side of the bargaining table you’re on, the district’s salary proposal was about half of what the union was requesting, or the union was requesting twice as much in its salary proposal as the district was offering.
The district proposal, however, stated that if it was rejected, it would be pulled completely off the table. The union rejected the offer Aug. 12.
Union officials said the offer was rejected primarily because it does not address their other concerns, not because of the money. Union leaders have stated that teachers in the Kent School District are forced to attend too many meetings during the week, usually as part of the scheduled 7.5-hour calendar day, which cuts into time they could be spending with students or working on classroom-related material.
Union officials also have proposed more teacher-directed time instead of district-directed time, such as during early dismissals, to be used for matters of their choosing instead of by the district or building principals.
Sources from both sides also claim a lack of respect from the other at the bargaining table.
The state-assigned mediator does not have the authority to compel either side to reach an agreement or accept any item, but the hope is that a fresh set of eyes may be able to clarify each side’s position for the other and offer suggestions to move along negotiations.
Both sides have agreed to meet with the mediator Thursday, Friday and Saturday to continue bargaining sessions before the next KEA member meeting, scheduled for Aug. 26. Unless a settlement can be reached, the union has stated it will take a strike vote at that time.
For more information on the negotiations and the differences between the two sides, visit www.kentschools.org (KEA site) or www.kent.k12.wa.us (official District site).
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