UPDATED: School board unanimously approves teacher union contract
Update Wednesday, Aug. 13:
The Salem-Keizer School Board on Tuesday unanimously approved a new two-year contract for the district’s teachers, marking the first time in nearly three years that the district hasn’t been in labor negotiations.
Teacher union leaders praised the district for working more efficiently and collaboratively than last year, when teachers nearly went on strike amid contentious negotiations.
“I see lots of promise in our future and I hope that you do as well,” union President Marale Ellis said during the board meeting.
The board also voted 4-3 to nominate Karina Guzmán Ortiz to the Oregon School Boards Association legislative policy committee. School board members Cynthia Richardson, Lisa Harnisch, Guzmán Ortiz and Mel Fuller voted for Guzmán Ortiz. The remaining three board members, Satya Chandragiri, Krissy Hudson and Jennifer Parker, voted for Chandragiri.
The board voted to nominate Fuller and Harnisch to serve on the association’s Legislative Policy Committee. Fuller was nominated unanimously. Harnisch won nomination in a 4-3 vote, with Hudson, Parker and Chandragiri supporting Hudson for the nomination.
Original story below:
The Salem-Keizer School Board will vote Tuesday on a two-year contract for the district’s 2,400 teachers that’s expected to cost about $38 million.
The agreement, reached in early July, covers teachers and other licensed employees like occupational therapists. It gives them a 4% raise this school year and a 3.5% raise next year.
READ IT: School board agenda
Union members voted to approve the contract last month. If the board signs off, the agreement will be final.
The agreement would also add training time for teachers during the school year. That comes as the district is in the middle of a wave of new curriculum adoptions intended to replace outdated materials in topics ranging from world languages to elementary school reading.
To participate
The Salem-Keizer School Board meets Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 6 p.m. in the boardroom at 2575 Commercial St. S.E.
People can sign up for public comment by 3 p.m. Monday by clicking the “request to speak” button at the top of the agenda. The meeting will be streamed on CC:Media, channel 21 or on YouTube in English and Spanish and interpreted live in American Sign Language.
Other items
- The board will vote on nominations for the Oregon School Boards Association’s board of directors and Legislative Policy Cboardommittee.
- The board will receive an updated report on the Class of 2025 with summer graduations. According to the report, another 87 seniors earned high school diplomas over the summer by completing coursework, and four more earned GEDs. The summer graduates include 21 each from McKay and North high schools, 16 from Roberts, 13 from McNary, eight from West, seven from South and one from Sprague.
Correction: This article incorrectly listed the full name of the Oregon School Boards Association in one reference. Salem Reporter apologizes for the error.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers education, economic development and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for over a decade and is a past president of Oregon's Society of Professional Journalists chapter. Outside of work, you can often find her gardening or with her nose buried in a book.
