TEACHERS IN Battle Ground Public Schools (BGPS) met Monday night to take a strike vote. A majority of the 825 teachers in the Battle Ground Education Association (BGEA) were on hand but the union fell 16 votes short of the two-thirds needed for approval. Representatives of the BGPS and BGEA were back at the negotiating table Tuesday attempting to close the gap on a new contract.
BATTLE GROUND – A strike vote by the members of the Battle Ground Education Association (BGEA) fell 16 votes short Monday night and representatives of the union and Battle Ground Public Schools (BGPS) went back to the negotiating table on Tuesday.
The teachers and the district have been in negotiations since May on a new agreement. Leadership of the BGEA presented its membership the district’s latest offer at a meeting Monday night, attended by a majority of the union’s 825 teachers. Union policy dictates that in order for strike vote to pass, two-thirds (or 66.67 percent) of the teachers must vote to approve.
“I had thought it wouldn’t be as close as it was so that was a little disappointing to me,’’ said Mark Hottowe, superintendent of BGPS. “We have been in negotiations with the use of a PERC (Public Employment Relations Commission) mediator for a number of sessions and the mediator is here today (Tuesday). We’re continuing to work on language in the contract. We have language and money still to settle on and in some cases they overlap.’’
Earlier this year, the Washington State Legislature approved a 3 percent COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) that is funded by state disbursements. The BGPS offer adds an additional increase on top of that 3 percent COLA increase, but it fell short of meeting with the teachers’ approval. Details of the negotiations were not available due to a confidentiality agreement between the two sides.
“The Battle Ground Education Association’s 830 educators have been working without a contract since Sept 1, 2015,’’ BGEA President Linda Peterson said in a statement emailed to The Reflector Tuesday. “The BGEA Negotiations Team has met with Battle Ground district personnel, including Superintendent Mark Hottowe, more than a dozen times since May 2015. The district's unwillingness to acknowledge the increasing demands on educators compelled us to bring in a mediator from the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) in September.
“We have been unable to reach an agreement that compensates our members in a way that acknowledges the work they do for the students and families of the Battle Ground community,’’ Peterson wrote. “We have asked for smaller class sizes, more counselors, sufficient classroom supplies, and a modest salary increase that still leaves Battle Ground classroom teachers the second lowest paid in Clark County.’’
Hottowe said the BGEA claim that the teachers are working without a contract is an “untruth.’’
“The teachers continue to work on the previous contract,’’ Hottowe said. “The teachers want to say they are working without a contract. That is an untruth. They know they have a continuing contract. State law specifies when an existing contract expires, it stays in effect until a new one takes place. They are well aware of that.’’
Hottowe indicated that negotiations would take a break for the Thanksgiving holiday break but he expressed optimism that they would resume soon thereafter and continue until an agreement is reached.
“We are hopeful that the district and BGEA negotiating team will continue to work towards the middle and within a short period of time we hope the group will tentatively agree to a new contract that will be presented to the general staff, they will have a general meeting and all teachers will come and approve the new contract,’’ Hottowe said. “We will get there eventually, there’s no doubt about that. We just hope it’s sooner rather than later.’’
