Teacher compensation has been a recurring theme as school leaders hear concerns about staff departing to other districts and prepare for a May vote on a proposed emergency operating levy, a portion of whose income would go to enhancing pay. The board also voted Feb. 23 to approve a performance based pay plan for all staff that would go into effect if the levy passes.
The teaching staff is voting on whether to form a collective bargaining unit in a mail election through the State Employment Relations Board that continues through March 9.
That vote was among issues addressed by district resident Pete Schinaman in comments to the board at its Feb. 23 meeting.
“I want you guys to speak to how we got to this point. It seems to me this could have been prevented years ago had we taken action,” Schinaman said.
Board President Tom Merritt said those who sought the union vote should answer Schinaman’s inquiry as to why.
Board member Carla Frame said the board had been talking with teachers for more than a year and proposed the May levy as a way to obtain more money for pay. “We thought we had come to a resolution, which apparently they disagree with, which is where we are at,” she said.
District Superintendent John Kronour said the teachers have a right to form a union. Kronour sent a memo Feb. 6 to certified and licensed staff members participating in the vote.
“The Board of Education is not afraid of the union because we could operate our schools either with union or non-union employees. However, we are opposing the union’s organizing efforts because we believe that a union can do nothing for you that would justify you paying dues, and perhaps other associated costs,” Kronour wrote. “We do not think the union would assist us in educating our students.”
Schinaman, a co-chair for the May levy committee, sent an email Feb. 23 asking teachers to give the community a chance to address compensation concerns before forming the school district’s first union. Calling teachers unionizing a “polarizing move,” Schinaman said adding a union to the mix “will have an adverse impact (on) our ability to pass this upcoming levy. A lot of volunteers and citizens from whom we need support are going to roundly reject the idea of a union.”
About the Author