This former Bend High School holds the headquarters of the Bend-La Pine Schools. (Richard Coe/The Bulletin)

 

The Oregon School Employees Association (OSEA), which represents the bus drivers, education assistants, nurses, custodians, and other classified employees of Bend-La Pine Schools, ratified a new contract with the school district last week. I had the privilege of serving on the bargaining team, and the experience left me with a deeper appreciation of both my union and the district’s leadership.

Both sides proposed changes that were seen as win-wins and easily agreed upon. I was particularly gratified by new language for extra duty assignments like coaching. As a nurse and a parent, I see the incredibly positive benefits to physical and emotional health, academic performance, and sense of belonging that come from school sports, and too often kids are deprived of the opportunity to participate because of a lack of youth coaches and officials.

We disagreed on two major issues. One was a proposal by OSEA to make wage schedules consistent across job classifications, which the district felt would be too expensive to implement. The other was a proposal by the district to move away from spreading pay over twelve months, arguing it has lost new employees who were surprised that a portion of their pay was withheld for summer. But in an OSEA survey, over 90% of the more than 300 respondents preferred the security and consistency of spread pay.

The final subject of our bargaining was wages and benefits. School funding is determined by the Oregon legislature, not by local districts. There were early signs legislators would finally make up for years of under-investment and lift the cap on special education and high-cost disability funding, but that optimism quickly faded when the May economic forecast came in gloomier than expected. Initially, OSEA had asked for a 7% cost-of-living adjustment in the 2025-26 school year, but we ultimately agreed to a modest bump of 3.25%. This was a disappointment to my colleagues struggling to keep up with inflation, but their anger at the district here is misplaced. When it comes to education funding – and therefore how much (or little) we pay the professionals tasked with teaching, feeding, driving, and caring for our children at school – it is our representatives in Salem who continue to fall short.

Throughout our negotiations, my more experienced colleagues on the bargaining team, including chapter president Jennifer Groth and OSEA field representative Brian Hanson, expressed pleasant surprise at the difference in attitude shown by the district leadership team. Superintendent Steve Cook, Chief H.R. Officer Steve Herron, and Chief Financial Officer Dan Emerson were transparent and respectful throughout the process, which invited compromise on some issues by OSEA. This was a stark contrast to my own experience with previous employers, who had a more adversarial relationship with their unions.

We also saw this collaborative spirit outside official bargaining. Dr. Cook convened several advisory groups representing certified employees, classified employees, and other stakeholders, meeting with them throughout the school year to hear their concerns. He also hosted all-staff presentations, providing updates on efforts to overcome various challenges facing the district.

This is not to say all is kumbaya. The district provides little to no onboarding and training for new classified employees. It does not have a coherent strategy for improving student attendance. It has been slow to deliver the competitive wage analysis for nurses it promised us a year ago. And as a parent of two kids who love to learn, I continue to be disappointed by the lack of academic rigor in our schools.

Nonetheless, the mutual respect shown by management and labor in this contract negotiation was refreshing. Despite the many clouds looming on the proverbial horizon, I am more confident than ever that the future is bright at Bend-La Pine Schools.

 

Oliver Tatom is a registered nurse and member of OSEA Chapter 6. He lives in rural Deschutes County. The views expressed here are his own.