205 Washougal Teachers on Strike — What Happens Next?

Washougal, WA — Because negotiators from the Washington Association of Educators (WAE) and the Washougal School District (WSD) could not reach a tentative agreement Monday at 5 pm, 205 WSD certificated teachers are officially on strike, effective Tuesday morning.

“The teachers already voted last week that if a tentative agreement wasn’t reached by August 27 at 5 pm, we will go on strike,” said Eric Engebretson, WAE president. “The work stoppage starts tomorrow morning. We are working on a counter proposal and we will keep negotiating. We’ve been in sessions all day. We’re still here and we started at 9. PERC is here, and they’ve been here since Friday.”

At issue are classroom sizes, salary, and WSD’s historically high turnover rates.

“We are still bargaining,” said Dr. Mary Templeton, WSD Superintendent. “We continue to press forward. Everyone is working hard at both sides of the table. We want an agreement as soon as possible. The district and the association have worked hard to reach an understanding but, unfortunately, we were not able to come to an agreement today. We have been excited to offer the biggest raise Washougal teachers have ever received, which would bring our salary into competition with regional districts. We believe our proposal supports our well-deserving teachers, is fair and equitable and is something the Washougal community can sustain over time.”

WSD put forward a new salary proposal that increases the offer to a 16% increase in salary, plus TRI. WAE countered requesting a 25.6% increase. There is still approximately $1.5 million dollar gap between the two sides.

According to WSD, they were given $14.2 million by the state to pay teachers and they have used all of these funds for salaries. They have also agreed to add $600,000 more of local money in this compensation offer. By law, Washington school districts are required to have 180 days of school. School will start on the first planned school day after the strike ends. Days will likely need to be added into the calendar later in the year.

Tentative agreements have been reached on 12 items, resolving concerns the teachers raised around salary advancement rules, retirement stipends, personal leave buy back and cash out rules, as well as just cause language.

“Everyday we will be in negotiations, said Engebretson. “We will negotiate until we cannot. We want to go back to school. It depends on the district.”

So, what actually happened on Monday during negotiations?

“There was some movement, less than a percent on salary —on their part,” he said. “No class size change.”

WSD Answers Questions

Lester Brown, WSD Communications Director, provided guidance on what a strike means, and what are next steps.

1) What does the district do when the WAE announces a strike? What’s your process?

This is uncharted territory for all of us. We are focused on working to communicate with parents and staff about a potential work stoppage and its impacts on the start of school.

We will use automated phone calls, social media and our website, so families are aware of the need to plan for the impact.

We realize this is a huge inconvenience for families and we are optimistic that teachers and students will be back in classrooms as soon as possible.

2) How long does a strike have to go on until it starts affecting this year’s school schedule? Lacamas Magazine understand it’s like using up snow days.

The work schedule for our classified staff will not be impacted by the strike actions of the WAE. Teachers will work a 180-day contract, but will see an adjusted school schedule, based on this delay to the start of schools.

School will start on the first planned school day after the strike ends. Days will likely need to be added into the calendar later in the year much like snow days. If the strike lasts fewer than four days, the district does not anticipate needing to change the date for WHS graduation.

The district still intends to allow athletics and activities, covered under a different union contract, to continue as scheduled.

3) If a strike goes past 15 days, then classified staff won’t get paid, but will the teachers also not get paid?

The work schedule for our classified staff will not be impacted by the strike actions of the WAE. Teachers will work a 180-day contract, but will see an adjusted school schedule, based on this delay to the start of schools.

Our focus right now is still on resolving the remaining concerns the union has asked to talk about so we can come to agreement. We will be researching these more complex issues over the next few days to build understanding of the impact of a longer term strike.

4) In your opinion, is a strike legal? Citing RCW 41.56.120: “Right to strike not granted. Nothing contained in this chapter shall permit or grant any public employee the right to strike or refuse to perform his or her official duties.” The Attorney General’s Office said: “In Washington, state and local public employees do not have a legally protected right to strike. No such right existed at common law, and none has been granted by statute.” What is WSD’s opinion on this?

The legislature is responsible for law, but we are aware of the RCW 41.56.120. The district is working with legal counsel to understand this statue and the implications of it for the union.

5) Lacamas Magazine is hearing that oversized classrooms are a source of contention in these latest bargaining sessions. What is WSD’s position on classroom sizes?

The current teacher contract defines class sizes as “in overload” when the following numbers are reached or exceeded:
K-3: 25+
4-5: 28+
Middle and High School: 28+

In Spring 2018, WSD had a total of 60 elementary classroom teachers. Six of those, or 10%, were in overload. With 1,373 elementary students, it was the difference of 11 students that caused those overloads which were one to three students more in those rooms. During the same time frame, there were a total of 77 middle and high school teachers. Four of those had more than 140 students per day and were considered to be in overload.

The district works hard to avoid overloaded class sizes by managing the boundary process and building schedule, but sometimes classes above targeted sizes cannot be avoided.

When elementary teachers have classrooms at or above these targets, teachers have an option of hiring an additional paraeducator to assist in their classroom or accepting “overload pay” at the rate of $10 per extra student per day. For middle and high school it is $2 per student in overload.

Although WAE has stated that class size is a major point, they had been unwilling to talk about this issue for the first 11 bargaining sessions that spanned three months.

The facts are that 90% of Washougal classrooms are below state class size goals/targets. Those teachers who are in overload have the option of receiving additional resource in paraprofessional support or additional compensation of $10 per student per day as overload pay.

Another union issue was the use of classrooms that combine grade levels. The district had no combination or split classes last year, and there are none planned for this year.

“As far as class size, the district figures class size as an average,” said Engebretson. “That means they include music, P.E., library, and art teachers into the equation.  However, the actual students in one classroom can be more than than is ideal and that classroom is in overload.  Posting that the district has an average number of students per classroom is misleading to the community.”