Peninsula teachers still waiting for salary negotiations

Teachers in the Peninsula School District are feeling the crunch as salary negotiations between the Peninsula Education Association and district continue.

“Washington has historically paid sub-par teacher wages,” said Ron Witter, a fifth grade teacher at Discovery Elementary School. “This is the time where Washington needs to get caught up.”

Across Pierce County, teachers and staff members at a number of districts are picketing and protesting a 3.1-percent salary increase they say isn’t enough when other educators in Washington have settled contracts with raises ranging from 12 to 21 percent.

South Kitsap School District is expected to vote to approve a raise for teachers in the double-digits on Aug. 27. In Bainbridge, teachers received an 18-percent raise.

Potential salary increases for Peninsula School District teachers have not been made public. The uncertainty has led to some anxiety as the first day of school approaches.

Peninsula School District’s chief financial officer, Karen Andersen, said the norm for the Peninsula School District is to include salary amounts on contracts, but since a change in state funding and the need for a new salary schedule, this year’s contracts did not include a dollar amount.

“We used the schedule to compete with other districts or to maintain and retain good teachers,” Andersen said. “There is no more state salary schedule, so we all have to create our own salary schedules.”

The Peninsula School District Board of Directors and the district’s administrators have heard complaints from teachers and the Peninsula Education Association, the local teacher union, about the lack of concrete salaries. Andersen said salaries are not required to be a part of teacher contracts, and since the district has to decide on a new pay schedule, adding salaries to the contracts was premature.

The biggest change the district is dealing with is the state’s teacher salary schedule, which dictates how much teachers are paid based on experience, time at the district and level of education.

The Legislature in 2017 pledged $4 billion in increased spending on school salaries by the 2019-21 biennium as a part of the McCleary decision. The decision also restricted the amount of money districts can raise from local levies, and administrators have been challenged to make the finances work.

A joint statement from the Peninsula Education Association and the school district was sent to The Peninsula Gateway in response to questions about a possible salary raise for teachers.

“Peninsula Education Association and Peninsula School District have been negotiating since April, and we are close to reaching a tentative agreement,” according to the statement. “Both parties have worked collaboratively throughout the process. We are reviewing the final details this week and are confident the educators working in (Peninsula School District) will make great strides towards professional compensation.”

Witter works as the building representative for the Peninsula Education Association. He has taught elementary students for 37 years, 15 of them at Discovery.

“I love what I do. I love my kids,” he said. “Teaching is a lifestyle.”

Witter says his job is becoming more demanding, with classes of up to 32 students and lack of space.

Teachers in the Peninsula School District have found themselves making lower wages than their peers in neighboring districts, while living in a high-cost community. Witter said just three years ago the average enrollment at Discovery Elementary was 460 students, but this year they are looking at hosting 600 students.

“The infrastructure isn’t there,” Witter said. “We have one faculty bathroom, people wait in line to use the microwave. One-third of our staff is not in the main building but are teaching in portables. Kindergarten is capped.”

The news about the lack of infrastructure and classroom space isn’t new. It was the main ticket item for the proposed $220 million bond that failed by less than one percent of the vote in April. Since then the district has had to become creative with how to budget for space, portables and now a possible raise for teachers.

Witter said the atmosphere among teachers is tense as they begin to plan the school year, which starts Aug. 29, with no settled salaries.

“Our representative council with the union met last spring and authorized a strike vote,” Witter said. “I don’t know where (teachers) are, I know we want to avoid it. But there is an energy. Strikes are not fun but there is a message that needs to be communicated.”