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REYNOLDS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
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2024-2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement Highlights

11/25/2024

 
                                                        Attention: Time Sensitive Action Items 
  • Credit will now be given for certified educators with previous non-certified work experience in the district. They will get 1 step for every 3 years of previous experience. This credit (not the pay) will be retroactive, but you must email Shaunice Silas and Jessica de la Torriente before 12/20/2024 to get this credit.  
  • We have changed the amount of credit needed for the last two columns in the salary schedule. This may mean that you will be moving over columns. The BA+90/MA+ 24 has been changed to BA+80/MA+20 and the BA+120/MA+45 is now BA+100 / MA+40. Please check your credits and see if you qualify to move columns. If so, you must notify HR by January 15th to reflect this change.  
 
                                                   Changes Going into Effect Retroactively 
  • 7% Salary Increase for 2024-2025 
  • Longevity Stipend Increase 
  • Stipends for newly created positions  
 
                                                   Changes Going into Effect during 2025-2026 
  • 7% Salary Increase for 2025-2026 
  • 4 Paid Holidays 
  • Extra duty stipend increases 
  • $400,000 class size and caseload relief  
  • Hourly pay for 2 of 3 after school duties (not including back to school night) 
 
                                                   SPED Stipend Change beginning Dec. 1 
  • This change goes into effect December 1st. Use the previous system for hours prior to December 1. 
  • SPED educators will be receiving a retroactive check for the difference between the new 8% stipend and previously claimed time from this school year. Look for additional details in your email about when to expect this payment. 
 
                                                            Other Changes beginning this Year 
  • Elementary Prep time increases to 6 hours per week (Administrators should have this in place by Dec. 20). 
  • Before using the class disruption language outlined in Article 18, we are required to refer first to all currently existing plans students may have. These plans include: 
  • Individualized Education Program (“IEP”) 
  • Behavior Support Plan (“BSP”) 
  • Behavior Intervention Plan (“BIP”) 
  • Section 504 Plan 
  • Safety Plan or Crisis Intervention Plan 
  • Health Management Plan 
 
  • Union dues for REA will go up from $19.57/month to $21.83/month based on the increase in base salary. (Union dues are determined based on a percentage of the base.) OEA dues will remain the same. 
 
                                                                   Highlights by Article 
 
Article 3 - Miscellaneous 
  • Any email requiring members to take action will clearly say “action required” in the subject line. 
  • The District will respond to all emails within 3 business days. If you request a “read receipt” then the District will provide that within 24 hours. 
Article 4 – Association Rights 
  • REA has the right to address members at one meeting per week for up to 10 minutes. 
Article 5 – Employee Rights 
  • New language around the complaint process allowing members access to a complaint in most situations. 
  • Gender Identity added to anti-discrimination language. 
  • New language giving members input to processes around new curriculum and programs. 
  • 60-day notice for implementation of new materials and/or curriculum. 
  • 90-day notice for implementation of new district program or model changes. 
Article 7 – Employee Work Year 
  • 4 Paid Holidays: Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Day, Labor Day + Juneteenth if it lands on a workday. (Begins 2025-2026 School year) 
  • Two early release/late arrival days will be member directed (in addition to the current member-directed 5th Monday in a month). 
  • New hires get 4 additional pre-instructional planning days. 
  • New members hired after the beginning of the year get 1 pre-instructional planning day. 
  • Members hired after the beginning of the year but who have more than 135 days left in the school year will be Probationary-One employees. 
  • Secondary counselors will be granted up to 4 days of planning time at the beginning or end of the year. 
Article 8 – Emergency Closure 
  • Language around making up days due to emergency closure/inclement weather adjusted to meet the minimum seat requirements set by the State. 
Article 9 – Teaching Hours 
  • Elementary educators get 6 hours of prep time (1 hour more than previously). 
  • Members will be notified 3 months in advance before school hour changes. 
  • Special Education Case Managers, School Psychologists, Speech Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists/Physical Therapists get 200 minutes at minimum per week for case management. 
  • School Psychologists get 4 hours per week for case management.  
  • Librarians get 30 minutes per day for library management. 
  • Members will be paid for 2 of their 3 required after school duties (beginning in the 2025-26 school year). 
Article 10 – Professional Development 
  • Language ensuring that professional development takes into account members background knowledge and current assignments. 
  • 1 hour lunch break on professional development days. 
  • Language ensuring members can use time after finishing PD to do work on their own (not be given extra tasks). 
Article 14 – Paid Leaves of Absence 
  • Increased Bereavement days to 5 per year (formerly 3). 
  • Allowing members to use sick leave bank for family members on plans (formerly only children). 
  • Members can now roll-over 2 personal days (formerly 1). 
  • Monetary amount of cost-of-sub leave will be made public. 
  • In the event of a major health emergency requiring quarantine the district will be required to bargain with REA over providing special paid leave. 
Article 17 – Substitute and Student Teachers 
  • New language around Admin assigning substitute duties to members. 
  • Contracted building-based subs will be used prior to assigning members. 
  • All members used as subs will be paid their contract rate, not sub rate. 
  • No member will be asked to sub more than twice in a week, with the exception of SPED TOSAs. 
  • SPED TOSAs may be assigned no more than15 consecutive days, after which they may be assigned no more than two days in a week. 
  • Members assigned to sub will not be assessed, evaluated, or be responsible for student growth goals during the time they’re subbing. 
  • Admin will work with members to decide the relieving of tasks and responsibilities when subbing. 
Article 18 – Student Discipline 
  • Members must refer to previously existing student plans before using the class disruption language in Article 18. See the list of plans above under “other changes beginning this year”. 
  • Additional language changes in this article, such as redefining “physical abuse and intimidation” as “behavior that causes harm to self or others and intimidation”, which do not change processes in this article. 
  • The district will provide training for case managers, counselors, and social workers on IEPs, BSPs, BIPs, Section 504 Plans, Safety Plans, Crisis Intervention Plans, Health Management Plans, or any other plans that prescribes how to respond to an individual student’s behavior.  
Article 19 – Tuition, Project, and / or Workshop Reimbursement  
  • Reimbursement includes mandatory fees, not just registration. 
  • Curriculum hours do not expire after each year but continue through life of contract. 
  • Redefined the rate used for curriculum hours. 
  • Attendance at conferences outside Oregon or Washington are limited to once per contract cycle. 
  • 6 credits per contract cycle can be used for domestic travel. 
  • Conferences and workshops held in Portland area eligible for mileage reimbursement. 
  • Conferences and workshops held in Oregon and/or Washington (outside the Metro area) eligible for mileage, lodging and per diem expenses. 
  • Members can use curriculum hours for licensure or coursework necessary to retain members who are working in high need or difficult to fill positions. 
  • When applying for reimbursement the district is required to contact members within 10 days if they need more information. 
Article 21 – Dues and Payroll Deductions 
  • REA is informed within 10 days of when a member moves job assignment locations. 
Article 22 – Compensation 
  • 7% increase in salary for 2024-2025 (retroactive) 
  • 7% increase in salary for 2025-2026 
  • Staff hired as certified who previously held a non-certified position in Reynolds will be granted credit in the amount of one increased step on the salary schedule per 3 years worked. (See action items above to apply for this before it expires.) 
  • Members with multiple endorsements and a Master’s degree can count all their previously earned credits for placement on the salary schedule. 
  • New language around summer work pay, including paying members at their hourly rate. 
  • A 10:1 ratio (one (1) credit per ten (10) clock hours) will apply to all members. 
  • The longevity stipend will now begin on the 15th year of employment and will be 2% (formerly 1%). Each 5 years after that will go up another 1%. 
  • We have changed the amount of credit needed for the last two columns in the salary schedule. The BA+90/MA+ 24 has been changed to BA+80/MA+20 and the BA+120/MA+45 is now BA+100 / MA+40. 
  • Payment for extended responsibilities will be paid over 11 months, beginning on the October paycheck. 
  • Those receiving extra duty pay now get an increase every two years. 
  • Two new extra duty positions were created: Library/Media Coordinator and PE Coordinator. Stipends for these positions are retroactive and begin this year. 
  • A number of extra duty positions which were lower than neighboring districts were increased. 
  • The table for extra duty stipends was cleaned up so that it will no longer give you a headache when looking at it. 
Article 23 – Fringe Benefits 
  • There will be an insurance roll-up of 4% 
  • During extended leave, a member who works at least 10 days during a month will have insurance coverage for the subsequent month. For this purpose, the use of individual sick leave, personal leave, or use of the sick leave bank, will be the equivalent of “work”.  For the months of July-September using ten (10) days during the month of June will count. 
Article 25 - Reduction in Force 
  • Legally required language around determining linguistic and/or cultural expertise during a RIF was added. 
Article 26-A – Student Services: Special Education  
  • SPED educators will be compensated at 8% for recognition of work beyond their normal workday. This begins December 2024. 
  • Language was added around student services committee protocols. 
Article 26-B – Student Services: ELD 
  • Minor language updates 
Article 26-C – Student Services: Social-Emotional and Wellness Support Services 
  • Added services for unhoused youth to definitions 
  • Added committee protocols
Article 27 - Class Size and Caseload Workload 
  • Added new recommended class size and caseload numbers for the following: 
  • Newcomer ELD & Newcomer Core (grades 6-12) 20 students per class section 
    • Elementary Resource Case Managers - 22 
    • Secondary Resource Case Managers - 25 
    • Behavior Resource - 15 
    • Specialized Programs - 10 
    • Speech Language Pathologists 48 
  • Decreased recommended Kinder class size to 20 
  • District agrees to use $400,000 (though not limited to that amount) to alleviate class size and caseload issues. Among the strategies include increased FTE, added EAs or other strategies. 
Appendices A & B 
  • These salary schedule appendices were updated to reflect the elimination of the 0 step (to increase pay for new employees) 
  • The salary schedules were also adjusted to reflect the increase in salary and the updated experience for column movement 
Appendices C & E 
  • These appendices were updated to reflect new language in their associated articles 

Bargaining Update: Oct. 29th

11/3/2024

 
Hello REA members,
On October 29th, your bargaining team met with the district to negotiate the final remaining articles, each having a big impact on salary, benefits, and class and caseload sizes. These articles are critical to our members and part of why we’ve seen increased attendance at our public bargaining sessions. Although Tuesday’s session was closed to the public, and therefore lacking the spirit our members bring to the table, we still had a successful session with big wins on the remaining articles.
With a renewed understanding of our district’s current finances (not including the independent audit due later this year) we were able to negotiate counters designed to move our salaries closer to the middle of Metro 14 districts, help make sure our members will have their insurance covered, and strike new language around class size and caseload that improves our current contract. The session ran close to 9 hours and involved a number of counters from both sides, but in the end the district came back with a counter which was – with few exceptions – an agreement to our language. This was a huge win and, honestly, a big surprise. Based on our discussions, the district proposed a two year contract rather than three, in acknowledgement of the likelihood that State funding will soon be changing but isn’t clear yet. If we accept a two year, it will be because it helps ensure that we don’t settle for less because the third year is such an unknown.
Below are the articles we received counters on and details on the remaining points in discussion. (Keep in mind that the notes below are not all the changes, just the ones we were still working on this week).

Article 7 – Employee Work Year
  • REA’s initial proposal was to include 6 paid holidays + Juneteenth (on years when it falls on a work day). We then adjusted the number to 4 paid holidays + Juneteenth, choosing the 4 that most neighboring districts pay for. Those holidays are Labor Day, Veterans Day, Martin Luther King Day and Memorial Day. The district agreed to those 4 days, with the understanding that they would take effect in the second year (2025-2026). It should be noted that the inclusion of those days would increase the overall salary in 2025-2026 by more than 2%.
  • REA had made continued attempts to include language around balance of the year employees maintaining that members hired after the first day but with 135 days left in the school year will have probationary year 1 status. The district agreed to our language.
Article 9 – Teaching Hours
  • The district proposed to take away the 7 ½ hour workday on Fridays, while REA fought to keep the language status quo. The district has agreed to keep 7 ½ hour workdays on Fridays.
  • REA proposed that the district pay members for their three required after school duties. Both sides had a thoughtful discussion on the topic which ended on the possibility of the district paying for two of the three duties and REA agreeing that if a duty was back to school night it would be an unpaid required duty. However, the district’s final counter did not reflect this change. This may be an area REA chooses to pursue. 
Article 14 – Paid Leaves of Absence
-We fixed some inaccurate numbers and language in this article around rolling over unused personal leave, but nothing new in substance was done with this article.
Article 22 – Compensation + Salary Index
-REA’s current salary proposal, at the beginning of the day, was 7% in year one, 9% in year two and 8% in year three. Throughout the afternoon there was discussion about the budget and the impact changing the salary index would have on the district (more about that in the next bullet point). It was understood that not just COLA, but also salary index changes and added holidays would have an impact on the actual salary increase. After multiple counters, REA revised our proposal to 7%, 7%, 7% over three years with 4 paid holidays and two changes to the salary index – deleting the 0 step and reducing the credit needed for column movement (so that members advance to the final column more quickly). The district accepted our proposal of 7% in year one and 7% in year two, along with the paid holidays. However, they proposed that the holidays wouldn’t go into effect until 2025-2026. If we accept the proposal, this would mean that members would get 7% this year – with retro checks for the beginning of the year – and because of the paid holidays, next year’s actual salary increase would be a little over 9%. 
-The salary index changes are complex and would have varying impact on members, resulting in an average – but inconsistent – salary increase of 3.7%. Because the impact of this varies among members and is so complex, we agreed with the district to form a committee to study the subject and try to figure out how best to implement a change with the most equity for our members.
  • We proposed multiple changes to longevity bonuses throughout the bargain, but on Tuesday presented an alternative, which was to start longevity at 15 years, but increase the stipend to 2% at year 15 and then increase by 1% every five years. The district agreed to our proposal. We did not agree on whether this is retroactive or begins in 2025-2026.
Article 23 – Fringe Benefits
-REA and the district were both concerned that rises in insurance rates might leave the insurance pool depleted. Our previous counter was a proposal to either raise the insurance roll-up to 4% rather than 3% or to increase the pool from $350,000 to $400,000 – either of which we felt would solve the problem. After a prolonged discussion, which also touched on how we can better use the insurance committee to look at potential fixes,  it became clear that raising the roll-up to 4% would net more for our members (though the district was leaning toward increasing the pool). In the end, the district agreed to our language for a 4% roll-up, while also holding our members harmless this year if the pool does run out.
  • Both sides have gone back and forth on allowing our members to spend ¼ of their unused insurance allocation on supplemental products. We insisted this remain in the contract and the district finally agreed. 
Article 27 – Class Size and Caseload
The district shared calculations of the burden our overage pay proposals, as well as hard caps, would have on the district’s finances as well as the very finite space in many of our schools. Although there was agreement on the problem and how dire it is, there was also agreement that the state’s funding model needs to change. As the state works on their funding model for the new biennium, this conversation will be important to stay engaged in, but for now, our concern was to begin the process of improving the language in 27 and paving the way for change. To that end, we made two critical changes.
-As we argued at the last bargaining session, our goal is to lower sizes and caseloads, not just charge overage pay. After much discussion, we agreed to create a pool of money with which the district and REA would use to collaboratively approach class and caseload sizes each this. The fund could be used to add EA’s, FTE, add roving teachers etc. The district proposed a fund of $200,000. We countered with $400,000 which the district ultimately agreed to, with the understanding that this fund would kick in during the 2025-2026 school year.
-Though it was clear that hard caps would be difficult to fund until the state increases funding, we wanted to use the “soft” caseload size recommendations from our previous contract as a guide for when we would use the $400,000 account for class/caseload sizes. Therefore, we lowered some sizes (particularly kinder) and added size/ratios for many ELD and SPED programs. Though we feel there may be a few more to add, we believe that this is a big win and an important step in agreeing on realistic numbers for our class sizes and caseloads.
As you can see, though there are still some conversations for the team to have, we are very close and have ensured many improvements to our current contract. Please check out the links to each of the articles above to see the current proposal for each remaining article.

Our next bargaining session will be on November 12th
, in the RHS library at 4:30. Be on the lookout for more info on that session as we get closer.



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