Contract approved for North Thurston teachers

The North Thurston School Board voted 3-0 late Tuesday to approve a two-year contract with the North Thurston Education Association. The union represents about 950 teachers in Thurston County’s largest public school system.

“The district is pleased we were able to negotiate a contract which both honored the hard work of our teachers and recognized the uncertainty of state funding for education,” said Courtney Schrieve a spokeswoman for North Thurston Public Schools.

Board members Aaron Owada and Chuck Namit were absent from the meeting.

North Thurston teachers worked under an expired contract for nearly half of the school year, and voted on the agreement between Feb. 12 and Feb. 18. According to results posted on the union’s website, 88.6 percent, or 586 members, voted in favor, and 11.35 percent, or 75 members, voted against it.

“People are happy to have it done,” said union president Conni Van Hoose about the contract’s ratification.

Compensation and additional work days were among the top concerns union members cited when they overwhelmingly rejected an offer by the district in October. The earlier proposal included three additional compensation days and a 4.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment over the next two years, Schrieve said.

Although teachers’ salaries are based on a state schedule, districts can negotiate “TRI pay,” which is compensation for “deemed done” responsibilities outside of teaching hours, including training and meetings. TRI stands for Time, Responsibility, Incentive.

“(The district) included two more days from the earlier offer,” Van Hoose said.

Total TRI time for the 2016-17 school year will be 36.388 days, with four of those days being district directed and another four to be used for district professional development, according to a copy of the contract on the union’s website. Teachers will receive about 35 TRI days for this school year, and will be paid retroactively, Schrieve said.

In the Tumwater School District, officials are still negotiating with two unions, the Tumwater Education Association and the Tumwater Office Professionals Association.

“Progress has been made during bargaining and we will continue to work with both groups to reach agreement,” said district spokeswoman Kim Howard.

But Tumwater Education Association president Tim Voie said the union’s nearly 400 members seem interested in taking some type of action if a deal isn’t struck soon.

“I think they’re getting frustrated,” he said. “They’re seeing teachers in the surrounding districts making a great deal more money than they are for basically doing the same job.”

He said teachers in nearby districts are “making anywhere from $3,500 to $6,500” more a year than Tumwater teachers do. In addition, out of 28 districts of similar size throughout the state, Tumwater ranks second to the lowest in compensation, Voie said.

“My members would be very pleased to be somewhere in the middle,” he said.

Some Tumwater teachers have begun wearing “Fair Contract Now” buttons, and have displayed signs with similar messages in their vehicles. About 80 members attended a Tumwater School Board meeting recently where Voie made a presentation. Better compensation was a big part of the message, he said.

“We want to recruit and retain our best and brightest teachers because that’s certainly what the Tumwater community deserves,” Voie said.

East Olympia Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Rhonda Crawford said she hopes the district and union will reach an agreement soon. She has worked for the nearly 6,300-student district for 24 years.

“I am disheartened that some of my colleagues and myself are considering looking for employment outside the district,” she said. “We can perform the same job duties elsewhere and be compensated at a higher level. … I think a fair compensation package shows respect.”

This story was originally published March 2, 2016 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Contract approved for North Thurston teachers."