Parents and teachers are pleased that Bend-La Pine Schools and the educators’ union, Bend Education Association, have reached a tentative contract agreement.

Bargaining has gone on for nearly a year and union members have been working without a contract since June. The tentative contract includes increases in salaries and benefits.

The tentative agreement, reached Monday night, comes a week after both sides called for a mediator. If the union and the district had been unable to come to an agreement even with a mediator, a strike would’ve been possible.

Sarah Barclay, union president, said on Tuesday that the union committee was pleased with the contract and that the four-day member ratification process will be wrapped up with a vote by Feb. 10. The contract then goes to the school board for approval.

“We are excited to bring it to members,” said Barclay. “There are a lot of working condition improvements in our tentative agreements, including those which were prioritized by members, such as learning environments and workload, including planning and preparation time, and our members certainly identified cost of living adjustments as well as access to medical care as a priority.”

The union’s executive board will review and approve the contract first, said Barclay. The union will make sure members are aware of what the contract includes, through two all-member meetings next week.

After those meetings, one of which is online and one in-person, members vote online in a ratification process.

In a prepared statement, Superintendent Steve Cook said the agreement was “the result of lengthy and deep discussions.”

“We are committed to continually working to make Bend-La Pine Schools an employer of choice in our region, and to ensure our employees feel valued and cared for,” Cook said. “We move closer to these goals with the mutual agreements we worked out through these negotiations.”

Support also came from the community Tuesday. 

“I’m so pleased that the administration and the BEA have reached an agreement that focuses on relieving teacher workload, improves pay, and most importantly, prioritizes the student’s learning environment,” wrote City Councilor Megan Perkins in a text message. “Everyone involved put our children first in these negotiations and avoided a detrimental strike and parents in our community are so very grateful.”

The district and union agreed to a 6.2% raise for the first year, retroactive to July 2023, and a 4.15% raise for the next year, as of July. Along with other changes made to the salary scale, this would mean that a first-year teacher, who previously made $42,682, would now make $47,186 after the first raise and $49,144 after the second.

The district’s contribution to health insurance will increase by $50 as of last October and $45 as of this October. As of this October, the stipend will be $275. In October 2025, it will be $300, and $325 the next year.

“It’s a great start,” said Barclay. “It’s certainly a base that we can work on, and we all together have some advocacy that we need to do at the state level to make sure education is funded at a sufficient amount.”

Barclay thanked the educators who supported the contract process and the community that supported the union, including students, parents, past educators, substitutes and businesses.

“I’m pleased to see a tentative agreement after months of hard work,” wrote Rep. Emerson Levy, D-Bend, in a text message. “Our teachers and staff deserve a fair contract and I’m thankful to Sarah with BEA and Dr. Cook and his whole team for getting us to the finish line. I’m a legislator but I’m also a parent with a student in Bend-La Pine, and it’s a win for our community.”

The district agreed to leave time for an employee so the union can have a vice president, whose pay will be reimbursed by the union.

The district and union also agreed to increases in tuition reimbursement, stipends for employees with specific certifications and other changes. The bargaining teams reached agreements on work day, length of the contract year, leaves, professional improvement and other topics.

The work year remained the same length at 190 days but discussion of an additional day may be resumed when negotiations open again in spring 2025.

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