Kent School District officials have made progress in negotiations at a Monday meeting with the Kent Association of Educational Office Professionals (KAEOP), school district officials said. They expect to have a final agreement by Friday.
The news comes as a windfall after more than a year of negotiations between the union and KSD have left the KAEOP wondering if it will get a new contract.
In an open letter to the district two weeks ago, KAEOP leaders expressed disappointment with the district’s handling of the negotiations, saying that on one hand the district calls them invaluable, front line help with students but isn’t able to back that assertion up with financial aid.
“Part of the frustration is the revolving door of people in (human resources),” said KAEOP President Kathi Adderson. “When we first started negotiations, the team was working with Robin Davis. Then he left, replaced by Keith Beiman. It was almost like having to start over again.”
Ordinarily, Adderson said she could understand that. “But we feel there has been such a level of disrespect to our union,” she added. Adderson said that she felt like the district’s reluctance to work with KAEOP was indicative of an indifferent attitude toward the office workers and clerical help.
Adderson said that in past years, KAEOP willingly took the bottom share of negotiations. “They negotiated with everyone else and we got what was left over.”
Adderson said that a joint study conducted by the district and the union compared wages to other districts, and found that office and clerical wages at KSD were 6 to 7 percent lower than eight other school districts. KAEOP is looking for about $500,000 in total raises for its staff, but officials from KSD say that while they’d like to provide the funds, they have other bases they also have to cover.
KSD Communications Director Chris Loftis explained that while the district does indeed have a hefty cash reserve to draw from, it has to be judicious in spending the $27 million.
“I think that’s an issue that often people hear that they think that there’s a big pile of money sitting somewhere,” Loftis said.
Director of Fiscal Services Ralph Fortunato said that the total balance was $27 million last year, but due to the way the budget works, the actual number was significantly smaller. A number of deductions, such as $12 million assigned as a mandatory reserve, or $3 million to help start the construction of a new school, quickly whittled the original sum away.
“There was $27 million dollars, said Fortunato, “but in reality what was unassigned, what was unspoken for, was three million.”
Beyond this financial constraint, Loftis also said that many demands made during negotiations aren’t considered from the district’s perspective, Loftis said. According to Loftis, the demands are made in something of a vacuum, and the district has to take them and say whether or not they’re reasonable. Beyond the needs of KAEOP, Loftis said that the district has to ask what impact a financial choice will have in the future.
“You’re looking at not just today’s finances and you’re looking at the moral and legal responsibility that we have to keep the district sustainable,” Loftis said. “So yes, we might be able to make one group happier today, but does that set us into a trajectory that is untenable in the future?”
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