Contract negotiations between Bend-La Pine Schools and its two largest unions will continue into January, though a contract with the Oregon School Employees Association is very close to being done, said district officials.

Educators and school support staff have been working without contracts since the end of June, and are now off-contract due to the winter break.

Bend Education Association represents more than 1,000 teachers, school psychologists, librarians, certified nurses and others. The Oregon School Employees Association represents nearly 1,000 clerical staff, bus drivers, custodians and others.

School resumes Jan. 2.

For BEA, discussing learning environment and work year

Bend Education Association, the educator’s union, and the district met several times throughout December, and covered contract topics ranging from the work day and year to professional improvement. Though the teams are still working on salary and benefits as well, they came to an agreement on assignments and transfers, and academic freedom.

“We had six full days of bargaining over the past two weeks and did get closer, but there’s still a sizable gap on the financials,” Scott Maben, the district’s communications director, wrote in an email.

During the discussion of assignments and transfers, the district and the union updated language to let staff know the details of new district positions before they are filled. Among other language changes, the district also agreed to compensate employees who must move to a new building due to a transfer or reassignment.

The bargaining teams began to discuss contract language to address disrupted learning.

Educators anonymously wrote about their daily struggles around safety on the union’s Facebook page, writing that teachers are on leave due to injuries they received from students and yelling students is a common occurrence, among other issues.

“Our school is constantly in the process of making and revising survival plans for behavior,” one educator wrote. “We need the district to provide the structure and support for success plans.”

The district has most recently proposed a 5.5% salary increase, with a 4% increase to follow next school year. Its latest offer for the monthly health insurance benefit is an increase of $90 over two years. The district would not need to make additional budget cuts with this offer, said Maben, though the district already needs to cut some staff positions due to expiring pandemic funding.

The educator’s union most recently proposed a 10% salary increase, with a 9% increase to follow next year. The union further proposed a $152 increase to the monthly health insurance benefit over two years.

Due to rising inflation, the district’s offer of “5.5% raise is ludicrous,” wrote Joe McLaughlin, a Bend-La Pine Schools parent, in a text message. “Dr. Steve Cook seems intent on driving our best teachers out of our school system and is treating all of our teachers like second class citizens… I believe the BEA should hold out for a fair wage increase and that they should go on strike to achieve it, if necessary.”

Bend Education Association and the district plan to meet for bargaining on Jan. 19 and 22.

For OSEA, focus on nurses

The local chapter of the school employees union introduced a segment of the contract to cover school nurses during the Dec. 13 session. It would create specific roles for nurses and ensure their caseload equated one nurse per 750 students. There are 20 nurses working in the district, with seven substitutes available. Due to extreme caseloads, some substitute nurses are pitching in to help cover students that the regular nurses can’t handle.”Nurses are licensed, credentialed, highly educated health care professionals, and we would like our pay scale to reflect that,” Pam Orton, representing nurses on the union’s bargaining team, said at the Dec. 13 session. “We care about student safety and the future of Bend-La Pine nursing, and we feel that the leadership positions that we are proposing will help protect both of these things.”

The union is asking for solutions in recruiting and retaining nurses, as well as stipends for nationally certified nurses. Half of the district’s current nurses are on the highest level of the pay scale, and the district has had major turnover in the last few years, nurse Angelina Mingus said during the session.

The district and the union have nearly reached an agreement on association rights and responsibilities.

Salary and benefits remain the final topics for the school employees union and the district to discuss. Debbie Christian, president of the union’s local chapter, said the district has not given the union a financial package since June, before it knew what funding would be coming from the Legislature.

“We stand firm with our opening statement — the district’s challenge with recruitment and retention could be solved by offering competitive pay and benefits so staff can afford to work and live in the community they serve,” Christian wrote in an email. “Our team is staying strong seven months into bargaining.”

The school employees union and the district will meet again Jan. 3, from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tentative dates have also been put on the calendar in January if necessary, said Maben and Christian.