Bargaining Update: Oct. 29th

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.


-Your bargaining team