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Bargaining Information

One of the major roles of the association is to bargain and enforce contract language for members.  Your BEA Bargaining Team is at the table now bargaining for the schools our students and educators deserve. You can learn more about the bargaining process here and see a brief glossary of bargaining terms (including timelines) here.

The BSD team has initiated mediation, which means we are in closed sessions. Our next mediation sessions are December 18th and January 7th.  You can see all our past public bargaining sessions here. We’ll be posting our proposals, the District’s proposals, and updates below, so check back often.

Below is a side by side comparison with BSD and BEA proposals. We are fighting for safe and supportive learning environments, professional respect (including transparency, accountability, and shared decision-making), and a committment to retention and recruitment.

Bargaining Updates

December 18, 2022

Good morning colleagues,

Your BEA Bargaining team met at 9 AM, mediation started at 12 PM, and we ended this second mediation session at 11:30 PM.

A lot of behind-the-scenes, detailed work was done at the caucus table throughout the day and into the night. In this stage of negotiations much of the crucial work is done in caucus with an effort to secure our members’ priorities while making movements toward management and signaling a desire to settle a fair and stable contract.

The next mediation session is Tuesday, January 7th beginning at 11AM at the “old” District Office.

LATEST UPDATE

The teams reached Tentative Agreements (TA) on the following Article:

  • Article 2: Association Rights and Responsibilities
    • This TA is a settlement of the unfair labor practice (ULP) against BSD for violating the union’s right to have time with new hires guaranteed by Oregon law. We made great strides in this language. 

Other Articles exchanged today (management’s team left prior to sharing electronic copies of their proposals, so they are not linked below; they will be uploaded to the website when we receive them).

  • Article 8 (Employee Rights and Responsibilities)
    1. BEA members used our collective power to successfully defend language in our proposal around academic freedom. This is a big deal!
    2. BSD has attempted to move toward us with language around the physical environment but refuses to adopt any language that would create actual accountability.

     

  • Article 10 (Professional Working Conditions)
    1. BEA made significant movement in this proposal. Due to our members’ priorities, our most recent pass included accepting the district’s language (from their last passed package) around BEA having input on class size via a committee. In addition we proposed language proposing caps for SLPs and a limit on students on IEPs for Sped Teachers. We’ve focused this language to support our most impacted students.
    2. In a sidebar discussion, it became clear that management is trying to blame BEA members as justification to take away your professional right to flex your schedule. Management is still asserting the need for admin approval for members to flex their day.
    3. BSD’s team moved toward BEA’s team on language around committees.
    4. Without rationale, BSD’s team refused BEA’s proposed language around equal plan time for elementary specialists and limiting secondary courses.

     

  • Article 11 (Work Year)
    1. BEA proposed language that holds firm on the breakdown of admin-directed time on Staff Development Days.  After a sidebar conversation, BSD agreed to move back to the 4 hour/4 hour split for Staff Development Days BUUUUUT they proposed language that would allow for administrators to force members to work through lunch on those days.
    2. BEA also attempted to secure equal control over early release/late start days. Management declined, sharing with the mediator that previous attempts at this model were a “complete failure.”

     

  • Article 17 (Tuition Reimbursement)
    1. The district has refused progress and continues to propose current contract language.

     

  • Article 18 (Compensation)
    1. BEA proposed the following COLA:
      Year 1: 7%
      Year 2: 6.5%
    2. Management proposed the following COLA:
      Year 1: 4.25%
      Year 2: 4.25%
      Year 3: 4.5%

     

  • Extended Duty Stipends
    1. While we didn’t officially TA this article, we believe we have reached conceptual agreement.

ACTION/NEXT STEPS

Attend the stand-up mediation update meeting at your site later today/Friday. Reach out to your CAT (Contract Action Team member) if you need details on this meeting.

Share your story at this link. We’re collecting member stories to highlight the impact of the contract articles still being negotiated.

Use this handy link to write to the school board and let them know why your students deserve the best and why you support a fair contract. Feel free to share this link with friends and community members directly or post it on your socials. The more the school board hears how important the experience of our students and educators is, the better.

Rest is productive. Unplug over break. Do things you enjoy with people you love. Take care of yourself and come back strong in the New Year to win the contract

Beaverton students deserve.

In solidarity,
Your BEA Bargaining Team

Suzanne Albrich, Chair, Cooper Mountain ES
Julia Barto, Fir Grove ES
Amy Borlaug, Five Oaks MS
Lora Dee, Sexton Mountain ES
Alysoun Lowe, ISB
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Elizabeth Lynch, Scholls Heights ES
Adam Oyster-Sands, Westview HS
Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Janine Weir, Merlo Station Campus

Emily McCann, OEA Staff
Sara Whelan, OEA Staff

——–

December 9, 2024

Good evening colleagues,

Your BEA bargaining team just had our first mediation session this evening and met with the state mediator from 11 am to 8:30 pm.

You might hear management say that they continued to make small steps on the articles that remain open in this bargain. Unfortunately, this movement was not significant. We continue to expect management’s team to make more meaningful advancements that show their intention to reach a settlement. This process is not about the number of times management’s team moves toward us, it’s about the content of that movement.

BSD’s proposals on the articles below (10, 11, 17, 18, 19, Appendix C) were sent as a package. You can view the entirety of this proposed package here. As a reminder, if packages are not accepted by the other team in their entirety, they are non-binding proposals.

Your BEA team did not accept management’s proposed package. It is likely management will frame this as BEA’s rejection of their movement toward settlement. If inches were miles, that would be correct. We did not accept their proposed package because they didn’t make meaningful movement. We are all educators living without a cost of living adjustment that is keeping up with inflation. As such, management’s definition of movement is out of alignment with our lived experience.

LATEST UPDATE

The teams reached Tentative Agreements (TA) on the following Articles:

  • Article 12 (Vacancies and Transfer)
  • Appendix J (Job Expo)
    • As a refresher, your BEA team was ready to pass these two articles on October 3rd (the night management called for mediation). We finally passed Article 12 and Appendix J on November 22nd when management agreed to meet (in incomplete teams) following members’ strike pledge action. It’s unfortunate that this process has been drawn out by management.

Other Articles exchanged today, in the order in which proposals occurred:

*To date, your BEA team has made more movement toward settlement on COLA than management.

  • Article 19 (Group Insurance Benefits)
    1. Management proposed the following insurance caps:

      Year 1: an increase of $75 (for a monthly total of $1,901)

      Year 2: an increase of $100 (for a monthly total of $2,001)

      Year 3: an increase of $100 (for a monthly total of $2,101)

    2. BEA proposed the following insurance caps:

      Year 1: $75 (for a monthly total of $1,901)

      Year 2: $130 (for a monthly total of $2,031)

       

    1. Management did not change language when they passed this today.
    2. BEA reasserted language from our initial proposal, which represents the values of educators being paid for the work we do and giving students opportunities to thrive. We passed language today that would put the burden of funding these extended responsibilities on the district to eliminate the disparities and inequities between sites.

      Appendix C (Extended Responsibilities)

      This document was crafted by a committee made up of BEA and BSD members in 2021 and outlines the stipends paid for extended responsibilities. However, that funding comes from building general funds, which will never be enough to give students the enrichment they need and deserve regardless of zip code.

  • Extended Duties Stipend Appendix
    1. Management did not change language when they passed this today.
  • Payroll Adjustment MOU – BEA withdrew this proposal.

ACTION/NEXT STEPS

Use this handy link to write to the school board and let them know why your students deserve the best and why you support a fair contract.

Keep wearing your “Working Without a Contract” buttons every day, change your social media profile pics to the “Working Without a Contract” sign, and wear your blue on Tuesdays.

The next mediation session is Wednesday, December 18th beginning at noon at the “old” District Office.

Your energy and support is critical at this moment in negotiations. Together we will ensure great Beaverton schools.

In solidarity,
Your BEA Bargaining Team

Suzanne Albrich, Chair, Cooper Mountain ES
Julia Barto, Fir Grove ES
Amy Borlaug, Five Oaks MS
Lora Dee, Sexton Mountain ES
Alysoun Lowe, ISB
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Elizabeth Lynch, Scholls Heights ES
Adam Oyster-Sands, Westview HS
Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Janine Weir, Merlo Station Campus

Emily McCann, OEA Staff
Sara Whelan, OEA Staff

———

November 22, 2024

Hello again colleagues,

After our request to hold a bargaining session today, management agreed to meet only in partial teams. Six of our team members met with four members of the district’s team. Our aim was to present the same articles we’ve had ready since October 3rd. As a reminder, hours before management called for mediation (citing progress was not being made) we communicated to management that we had these articles ready.

One of our values as a bargaining team is to remain inclusive to fully represent our membership. Without our full team present, we presented articles as planned but did not engage in further discussion. Management did not bring any articles.

Our team proposed the following articles:

  • Article 9 (Safe Learning Environment) – The last proposal we received from management represented significant movement toward our proposed language. Today we reached a TA (tentative agreement). We are excited about language that contractually guarantees a transparent, consistent data-gathering process that educators can use to track and communicate student needs.
  • Article 12 (Transfers and Vacancies) and Appendix J – Our proposal included movement toward management’s need for flexibility in the staffing process. We said again today to management that the current transfer process is opaque and profoundly impacts educators and students. We will continue to press for improvements in the transfer process that will benefit all BEA members while holding the line on language that asserts that members’ time needs to be respected if they are involuntarily transferred.

As we move into mediation with a TA on Article 9 – one we know is important to our members – we believe we are rapidly moving toward an agreement on Article 12. We will arrive strong together on December 9th.

You can see all proposals and tentative agreements at  beavertonea.org/bargaining under the “Bargaining Proposals” tab.

Today’s progress was a direct result of the conversations held among colleagues and the pledge cards signed this week. ALL sites returned their cards today!

ACTIONS/NEXT STEPS

For now, hit the pause button, relax, and enjoy your downtime.

First scheduled mediation:
December 9th from 11:00AM – 7:00PM
At the old District Office
16550 SW Merlo Rd.

In solidarity,
Your BEA Bargaining Team

Suzanne Albrich, Chair, Cooper Mountain ES
Julia Barto, Fir Grove ES
Amy Borlaug, Five Oaks MS
Lora Dee, Sexton Mountain ES
Alysoun Lowe, ISB
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Elizabeth Lynch, Scholls Heights ES
Adam Oyster-Sands, Westview HS
Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Janine Weir, Merlo Station Campus

Emily McCann, OEA Staff
Sara Whelan, OEA Staff

 

——–

October 4, 2024

Good evening colleagues,

What a week it’s been! We started early Monday morning with hundreds and hundreds of members across the District walking into their schools alongside community members, families, and students. We let our community know that we are demanding a fair contract and full funding from the state so we can provide a quality education to Beaverton students.

Then, last night, we heard that BSD decided to move our bargain into mediation. We knew that this move by management was a real possibility, and we are grateful that so many BEA members were trained up last weekend at Rep Academy/ Organizing School to be ready for this next step in the bargaining process.

The message that was sent to staff and community members by management was particularly maddening and outright disrespectful of the work being done at the bargaining table. Your BEA bargaining team has been working tirelessly to come to a fair agreement–we’ve signaled our priorities at the table, we’ve reached numerous tentative agreements on open articles, we’ve provided thoughtful reasoning behind our proposals, and we’ve shown management what our students and educators need. Just yesterday, our bargaining team met for eight hours to work on ways to find movement. The BEA bargaining chair contacted the BSD bargaining chair to let her know that we would be coming to our negotiations meeting on October 9th with multiple articles as well as at least one tentative agreement. We were met hours later with a notice of mediation and claims that this team is not making progress, which is baffling.

Your bargaining team will continue fighting to reach a fair, sustainable agreement as soon as possible. But to say that we are asking for too much highlights a disconnect between management and what is happening in our classrooms. It is disrespectful to our community, our students, and Beaverton educators to say that a commitment to recruitment and retention is too much; to say that professionals who spend eight hours a day with students shouldn’t have a voice in the decisions that impact them; to say that educators’ insistence on safe learning environments is unreasonable. We are here to demand the schools our students deserve.

So, what is mediation?

This is a part of the bargaining process that can be initiated by either team after regular table bargaining has been going for at least 150 days. This is no doubt an attempt by management to shut our members and our community out of BEA’s open and transparent negotiations process. Most often, mediation means that both teams meet separately, and a state-appointed, third-party mediator shuttles proposals between each team in order to reach agreement. While we can report out on what happens in mediation, mediated bargaining sessions are closed unless both teams agree to have them open to the public.

Despite claims of maintaining transparency, this action shows us that management no longer wants educators or the community to watch or be a part of negotiations, so we are not optimistic that we will have mutual agreement to keep stakeholders in the room. If BSD has nothing to hide and is truly committed to working collaboratively, then they could have chosen to continue to negotiate with us in open bargaining. Crucially, calling for mediation often slows down bargaining, since we have to work to align all of our schedules with the third party mediator.

The bargaining timeline overall from here on is as follows:

  • A minimum of 15 days in mediation and at least two sessions with the mediator.
  • At any point after that, if we are not making progress in negotiations, either team can declare impasse.
  • If impasse is declared, there will be a 30-day cooling off period before the union could declare an intention to strike and/or management can implement its last and best offer.
  • If we intend to strike after the cooling off period, we must issue a 10-day strike notice before doing so. Any potential strike action will be authorized by a vote of all BEA bargaining unit members conducted via a democratic, transparent process beforehand.

What’s next?

We need to PACK the school board meeting on Tuesday (10/8) starting at 7pm at the district office (1260 NW Waterhouse Ave). Your BEA bargaining chair, Suzanne Albrich, has asked that folks come in RED to the school board meeting as a clear indication that management has ignited the fire of BEA members. We need to visibly show management that the people united will NEVER BE DIVIDED.

Going forward, we’ll continue Bluesday Tuesdays and wearing our buttons so we can be a strong and visible presence at our worksites and in our communities (I don’t know about y’all, but I’ve been stopped a few times while I’m out and about by supportive community members!).

In addition, make sure you’ve signed the petition at your worksite, ask community members to sign here, and change your social media profile pictures to one of the graphics below.

We are ready for what’s next, y’all. Stay strong, stand united, and lean on your fellow union members as we move forward. SOLIDARITY FOREVER. ✊

In solidarity,

Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Suzanne Albrich, BEA Bargaining Chair

———-

September 24, 2024

Good evening colleagues,

Your BEA bargaining just finished our thirteenth bargaining session with the BSD management team. You can watch today’s bargaining session here.

Your BEA team proposed the following this afternoon:

  • Article 17 (Tuition Reimbursement) – We have reasserted language in article 17 to increase the amount of tuition reimbursement dollars that members can use for workshops and conferences directly related to their assignment.
  • Article 19 (Group Insurance Benefits) – We proposed an increase in the insurance cap of $100/month for 2024-25 and an additional $150/month for 2025-26. We also proposed that these increases be retroactive to July 1, 2024.  Finally, we proposed language that would require the District to enter into negotiations if insurance rates increase by 10% or more for the 2025-26 school year.
  • Article 2 (Association Rights and Responsibilities) – We have filed an unfair labor practice (ULP) against the district regarding BEA access to new hires and list acquisition. We have involved attorneys for both BEA and BSD to work toward a settlement around this ULP through language in Article 2 (the linked proposal was shared with BSD’s legal counsel), and we mentioned it at the table for greater transparency.

The BSD team shared the following:

  • Appendix C (Extended Responsibilities) – Management finally responded to our proposal around Appendix C. They accepted our proposal to add MS Memory Book to the appendix, but rejected our proposed language that would require the District to pay for the extra work done in Appendices C-1 and C-2 (as opposed to relying on fundraising to pay for those positions).
  • Article 2 (Association Rights and Responsibilities) – Management returned Article 2 accepting many of our proposed changes related to new employee orientations. The BSD team seemed to be confused about needing to consider the entirety of our proposal since it came as part of a settlement package for the ULP, and asked us to present those changes next time. We will link this article on our website as soon as we have the electronic version.

You can see all proposals and tentative agreements at beavertonea.org/bargaining under the “Bargaining Proposals” tab.

Walk-Ins are on Monday Morning!

Your CATs have created plans for walk-ins at every worksite on the morning of Monday, September 30th to support the bargaining team and demand full funding for public education from both the state and federal governments.

We settled on several new bargaining dates with management: October 9th, October 24th, and November 14th. All of these sessions will be 5-9 pm and all will be at the BSD Office. We are excited that these sessions are after contract hours so our members can stand with us in solidarity.

As a reminder, please keep wearing your “Working Without a Contract” buttons every day, change your social media profile pics to the “Working Without a Contract” sign, and wear your blue on Tuesdays. These actions are integral to the success of our continued escalation as we demand a fair contract.

In solidarity,

Your BEA Bargaining Team

Suzanne Albrich, Chair, Cooper Mountain ES
Julia Barto, Fir Grove ES
Amy Borlaug, Five Oaks MS
Lora Dee, Sexton Mountain ES
Alysoun Lowe, ISB
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Elizabeth Lynch, Scholls Heights ES
Adam Oyster-Sands, Westview HS
Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Janine Weir, Merlo Station Campus

Emily McCann, OEA Staff
Sara Whelan, OEA Staff

———

September 19, 2024

Good morning colleagues,

Your BEA bargaining just finished our twelfth bargaining session with the BSD management team. You can watch today’s bargaining session here.

 

We had another session this afternoon with a room full of BEA members in blue standing with us in solidarity and listening in on our caucus discussions. As we schedule more dates with management’s team, we only proposed evening sessions so members can be present with us.

Your BEA team proposed the following this evening:

  • Article 10 (Professional Working Conditions) – As a reminder, our last article 10 counterproposal was in a package deal which BSD rejected. Since they rejected the package (which in bargaining is an all or nothing proposal), we are going back to the previous article 10 proposal (which was our initial proposal) and moving toward BSD from there.Tonight, BEA passed a counterproposal for Article 10 that:
    • Re-asserted previous proposals regarding staffing ratios and caseload limits for certain staff, including pre-K teachers, special educators, SLPs, ELD educators, school psychologists, counselors, social workers, and nurses
    • Introduced the concept of “soft caps” or extra compensation for elementary specialists and K-12 general educators who have student contacts over a certain level
    • Increased compensation for working events outside of your normal assignment (e.g. dances, athletic events, etc.)
    • Provides new protections for individual planning time
    • Guarantees planning time parity for elementary specialists and increases in plan time for elementary counselors
    • One half of the seats on the Staffing Allocation Model committee which meets to determine and adjust worksite FTE throughout the year and increased transparency regarding the work of that group in the form of quarterly reports

     

The BSD team shared the following:

  • Article 11 (Work Year) – Management continues to assert their proposal of having five hours of admin-directed time (instead of the current four hours) on staff development workdays. They also reasserted their proposed language around conditions for a hypothetical early release/late arrival despite our objections over the vagueness of this language. They did add language for CTP/ACE conferences and reinstated current contract language around making up missed inclement weather days only to ensure compliance.
  • Extended Duty Stipends (Pay Parameters) – The original proposal that your BEA team brought to the table on August 20th was the result of a joint task force over the last year. Management brought this back with a few changes. We’ll post it on our website as soon as we have it in electronic form.
  • Article X (FLEX Online) – At our last session, our team presented a video of the current working conditions at the FLEX Online and two members shared powerful testimony of the impacts of the changes on FLEX Online students and staff this year. Management’s response to that powerful message was that they are not going to respond to this article because they didn’t want to put provisions for a specific school into the contract. Beaverton educators are expected to be flexible and accommodating with their students—we find it absolutely disrespectful that BSD management is refusing to extend that same flexibility to the FLEX Online staff.

You can see all proposals and tentative agreements at beavertonea.org/bargaining under the “Bargaining Proposals” tab.

What’s Next?

We are concerned about management’s lack of movement at the table and their continuing focus on power and control. We are escalating our actions in response to management’s behavior in the bargain, and you are a part of our collective power. Check in with your CATs about walk-ins at every worksite on the morning of Monday, September 30th to support the bargaining team and demand full funding for public education from both the state and federal governments.

Please keep wearing your “Working Without a Contract” buttons every day, change your social media profile pics to the “Working Without a Contract” sign, and wear your blue on Tuesdays. As we continue to escalate our collective actions, we are stronger when members participate in these seemingly small but actually meaningful shows of collective power.

Our next bargaining session is September 24th, 12-4 pm at the BEA Office.

In solidarity,

Your BEA Bargaining Team

Suzanne Albrich, Chair, Cooper Mountain ES
Julia Barto, Fir Grove ES
Amy Borlaug, Five Oaks MS
Lora Dee, Sexton Mountain ES
Alysoun Lowe, ISB
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Elizabeth Lynch, Scholls Heights ES
Adam Oyster-Sands, Westview HS
Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Janine Weir, Merlo Station Campus

Emily McCann, OEA Staff
Sara Whelan, OEA Staff

———

September 10, 2024

Good evening colleagues,

Your BEA bargaining just finished our eleventh bargaining session with the BSD management team. You can watch today’s bargaining session here.

This afternoon, the room was packed with members who showed up in blue with their “Working Without a Contract” buttons to make sure management knows that we’re all paying attention.

Your BEA team proposed the following this evening:

  • Article 9 (Safe Learning Environment) – We are making sure that we have language and specified tools that are sufficient to assure educators and dysregulated students are supported.

  • Article 11 (Work Year) – Your team is standing firm in keeping member-directed time on Staff Development Workdays. In addition, we rejected management’s proposal around early release/late arrival because it is overly broad and gives a great deal of power to management. When we had early release in prior years, we spent hours in collaborative meetings and developed a three page agreement about how the time was to be used—management’s current proposal is six sentences and does not leave room for the nuances of a future early release/late arrival schedule.

  • Article X (FLEX Online) – We shared a video of current working conditions for FLEX Online members, and heard testimony from two teachers about their experiences this year. We then proposed a slightly different version of our original proposal (which management had declined to discuss) to address the unique needs of the students and staff at FLEX Online.

The BSD team shared the following:

  • Article 2 (Association Rights and Responsibilities) – Management has moved toward us a bit in terms of including a joint contract training for administrators and BEA reps, but we are still far apart in terms of providing time for BEA with new hires. We have filed an Unfair Labor Practice about this issue as it is a right guaranteed by law.

  • Article 8 (Employee Rights and Responsibilities) – Whoo boy. Management continues to attempt to increase their control over members’ academic freedom; they claimed that all our worksites have access to climate controls and can just work with their administrators to identify mitigation measures in cases of potential health or safety concerns; and they have said that educators are responsible for personal property damaged by non-intentional actions of students. They also stated that if such an action can be tied to a student’s disability, it is not intentional—this puts our specialized program teachers at huge potential financial and physical risk.

BSD also countered Article 9 in which they moved toward us a bit on establishing a behavior referral form with some standardization. We’ll post that proposal on our website as soon as we have it.

You can see all proposals and tentative agreements at beavertonea.org/bargainingunder the “Bargaining Proposals” tab.

What’s next?

Wear your “Working Without a Contract” buttons every day, change your social media profile pics to the “Working Without a Contract” sign, show up at the school board meeting next Tuesday at 7 pm in your BEA blue and the bargaining session next Thursday, 4-6 pm. The engagement and presence of members is vital as we move forward—we feel your power at the table when you’re in the room with us.

Our next bargaining session is September 19th, 4-8 pm at the BSD District Office.

In solidarity,

Your BEA Bargaining Team

Suzanne Albrich, Chair, Cooper Mountain ES
Julia Barto, Fir Grove ES
Amy Borlaug, Five Oaks MS
Lora Dee, Sexton Mountain ES
Alysoun Lowe, ISB
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Elizabeth Lynch, Scholls Heights ES
Adam Oyster-Sands, Westview HS
Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Janine Weir, Merlo Station Campus

Emily McCann, OEA Staff
Sara Whelan, OEA Staff

———–

August 20, 2024

Good evening colleagues,

Your BEA bargaining team is back at the table, and we just finished our tenth bargaining session with the BSD management team this evening. You can watch today’s bargaining session here.

There is an action this week at your worksite! Look for information from your Contract Action Team members and/or building reps.

Today, the BSD team shared Article 9 as a standalone proposal, and then shared a package with Articles 10, 11, 17, 18, and 19. As a reminder, a “package” in bargaining means that a team proposes articles together in an “all or nothing” group. We can either can accept the entire package or accept nothing.

The following articles were combined in BSD’s package proposal:

  • Article 10 (Employee Working Conditions) – management declined our proposals to equalize plan time for elementary specialists as well as our proposals to sit on the committee that determines class size and caseload ratios.
  • Article 11 (Work Year) – management wants more admin-directed time during staff development workdays, and is still asserting language providing guidelines for early release/late arrival.
  • Management shared a presentation on financials outlining the changes in Article 18 (Compensation) and Article 19 (Group Insurance Benefits). The slides shared do not fully reflect all the streams of revenue and were thus incomplete. For the cost of living adjustment in Article 18, management proposed 3.75%, 3.75%, and 4% over the next three years, and for insurance, they proposed an increase in the monthly cap of $75 over each of the next three years.

Your BEA team proposed the following this evening:

  • Pay Parameters (Extended Duty Stipends) – this proposal is the result of a year of work by the Pay Parameters Task Force (as outlined in our current contract in Article 20.J). It outlines proposed stipends for members who are doing extended duty work that is not already outlined in Appendix C (which comprises Athletics and Activities).

After management proposed their package, your BEA team spent a long while talking about how disrespectful and offensive the District’s proposals were. After we proposed our package in June to outline our priorities, management came back with hardly any movement. Our bargaining chair delivered an impactful message when we returned from our caucus. We also countered Article 18 (Compensation) and reasserted a 9% and 7% cost of living adjustment over the next two years, respectively.

You can see all proposals and tentative agreements at beavertonea.org/bargainingunder the “Bargaining Proposals” tab.

What’s next? 

As BEA Bargaining Chair Suzanne Albrich said in her comments this evening, it is time for escalation. Escalation means visible, active, and public engagement in BEA actions. Blue shirts are great, and now is the time for more. We will be carrying out incremental increases in intensity to show our collective power and make or collective voice heard. Our victory at the table depends on our collective action.

Our next bargaining session is September 10th, 12 – 6 pm at the BEA office.

In solidarity,

Your BEA Bargaining Team

Suzanne Albrich, Chair, Cooper Mountain ES
Julia Barto, Fir Grove ES
Amy Borlaug, Five Oaks MS
Lora Dee, Sexton Mountain ES
Alysoun Lowe, ISB
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Elizabeth Lynch, Scholls Heights ES
Adam Oyster-Sands, Westview HS
Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Janine Weir, Merlo Station Campus

Emily McCann, OEA Staff
Sara Whelan, OEA Staff

——-

June 10, 2024

Good evening colleagues,

We finished our ninth bargaining session with the BSD management team this evening. You can watch today’s bargaining session here.

Today, the BSD team started by sharing this presentation on financials, and then countered the following articles:

  • Article 18 – Compensation – management proposed a cost of living adjustment of 3.5% over each of the next three years.

  • Article 19 – Group Insurance Benefits – management proposed an increase of $75/month in the insurance cap for each of the next three years. They also struck the existing language giving our members the power to ratify substantive changes in insurance plan.

  • In the presentation they shared, management also indicated that they wanted to revert to current contract language in Article 17 (Tuition Reimbursement), that they wanted to change the payroll schedule as we suggested, but at less cost (though they didn’t bring a counter), and that they did not want to engage with our proposed article about the Flex Online school.

Your BEA bargaining team then caucused and decided to counter several articles together in a package. A “package” in bargaining means that we propose articles together in an “all or nothing” group. Management can either can accept the whole shebang or accept nothing. We chose to do this in order to expedite the bargain and to clearly signal members’ priorities (COLA and insurance) while maintaining our ability to revisit these positions if the District rejects the package.

We included the following articles in the BEA package this evening:

  • Article 9 – Safe Learning Environment – we are close on agreement with this article; we’re still working on meaningful tracking of data that will better enable us to support students.

  • Article 10 – Professional Working Conditions – we incorporated the feedback from the member survey about priorities in this bargain, and in this package proposal we maintained equal plan time for elementary educators, and moved to guaranteed voting positions on the committee that advises management about adjustments to class size and caseload. We also reasserted contract language around staff being able to choose committees.

  • Article 17 – Tuition Reimbursement – we went back to current contract language for this article

  • Article 18 – Compensation – we reasserted our previous proposal of a COLA of 9% next year and 7% the year after that, a doubling of the current Outdoor School stipends.

  • Article 19 – Group Insurance Benefits – we proposed an increase in the cap of $157/month in the first year, and an additional increase of $100 the year after that. We also added a trigger that if the rate increase next year is greater than 10%, parties will renegotiate the insurance cap. Finally, we reasserted current contract language giving our membership the power to ratify substantive changes to insurance plans.

You can see all proposals and tentative agreements at beavertonea.org/bargainingunder the “Bargaining Proposals” tab.

What’s next?

Both teams have agreed to pause the bargaining timeline until the start of the school year in August, and we’ve agreed to a few dates right at the beginning of the year (August 20th is the first one). A few folks asking about the potential for a strike, and we wanted to remind you of two things:

  1. We have to follow the timeline laid out by the Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA), which you can see below. We began bargaining on February 15th, and have agreed to pause the timeline over the summer.

  2. BEA members have to authorize a strike, which is done through a strike vote. There are many steps ahead of taking that vote, and we will keep everyone informed as we move forward and continue to escalate our organizing efforts.

In addition, your BEA team will work to negotiate a compensation agreement that is retroactive to the start of the new contract date (July 1st) when we meet in August.

We will see you on August 20th, at 4 pm for our next bargaining session!

In solidarity,
Your BEA Bargaining Team

Suzanne Albrich, Chair, Cooper Mountain ES
Julia Barto, Fir Grove ES
Amy Borlaug, Five Oaks MS
Lora Dee, Sexton Mountain ES
Alysoun Lowe, ISB
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Elizabeth Lynch, Scholls Heights ES
Adam Oyster-Sands, Westview HS
Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Janine Weir, Merlo Station Campus

Emily McCann, OEA Staff
Sara Whelan, OEA Staff

——-

May 30, 2024

Good evening colleagues,

We finished our eighth bargaining session with the BSD management team this evening. You can watch today’s bargaining session here.

Today, your BEA team countered the following articles:

  • Article 9 (Safe Learning Environment) – we started with a slideshow illustrating that the District’s last proposal was quite confusing as well as highlighting the ways that our proposal around systems and referrals align with the BSD Strategic Plan and the BSD Student Code of Conduct. We returned to much of our originally proposed language around allowing educators to take action for the safety of their students, holding administrators accountable for action with dysregulated students, and ensuring we have strong data systems to identify trends and gaps in student supports.
  • Article 11 (Work Year) – we are fighting back and holding firm as the management team is trying to take another hour of time for admin-directed time on staff development days. We also proposed language for a PD calendar to ensure “singleton” educators have the opportunity to attend meaningful PD.
    Finally, in Article 11 we declined their proposed language for early release/late arrival because we don’t want to commit to any contract language without more certainty around what that would look like. We told them we are open to an MOU if and when early release/late arrival becomes a real possibility before our next contract bargain.

The BSD team countered the following articles:

  • Article 8 (Employee Rights and Responsibilities) – management is maintaining that educators’ academic freedom be explicitly tied to specific school board policies and “District guidelines.” This continues to be more restrictive than our proposals (and current contract language).  In addition, management has rejected all of our language around evaluation of educators and our attempts to make that process more transparent for members.
  • Article 12 (Transfers and Vacancies) and Appendix J (MOU for parts of Article 12)– management rejected our language around restricting the number of transfers for a specific member over a specified number of years, and they also are rejecting our attempts to establish specific dates as deadlines for steps in the staffing process (like class size committee recommendations, communicating tentative assignments, and starting the Job Expo). They did however agree to move our language around trading worksites out of the Appendix J MOU and into Article 12, making it permanent.
  • Article 9 (Safe Learning Environment) – management countered our earlier proposal just before the end of our session today. We’ll post this as soon as we have it electronically on the bargaining page. The District moved toward us in their language around seeking assistance for students with extremely disruptive behavior and establishing a consistent system for tracking student behavior.

The BSD team did not bring counters on Article 18 (Compensation) and Article 19 (Group Insurance Benefits) today. Your BEA team shared our frustration and underscored the importance of those two articles especially with open enrollment coming to a close tomorrow.

You can see all proposals and tentative agreements at beavertonea.org/bargaining under the “Bargaining Proposals” tab.

Our next bargaining session is June 10, 4 – 8 pm at the BEA office. Please JOIN US for a gauntlet welcoming the teams to bargaining from 3:30-4 pm, and then come in and watch some of the session in real life! You can also watch the session live on BSD’s YouTube Channel.

Please keep wearing your BEA blue on Tuesdays to show District management that we are stronger together. Your CAT members and building reps have more information about supporting the bargaining team and standing up for the schools our students and members deserve, so be on the lookout for information from them!

In solidarity,
Your BEA Bargaining Team

Suzanne Albrich, Chair, Cooper Mountain ES
Julia Barto, Fir Grove ES
Amy Borlaug, Five Oaks MS
Lora Dee, Sexton Mountain ES
Alysoun Lowe, ISB
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Elizabeth Lynch, Scholls Heights ES
Adam Oyster-Sands, Westview HS
Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Janine Weir, Merlo Station Campus

Emily McCann, OEA Staff
Sara Whelan, OEA Staff

———–

May 16, 2024

Good evening colleagues,

We finished our seventh bargaining session with the BSD management team this evening. You can watch today’s bargaining session here.

Today, your BEA team countered articles around Association Rights and Temporary and Part Time Employees:

  • Article 8 (Employee Rights and Responsibilities) – We brought back much of our originally proposed language, including mitigation for environmental concerns such as classrooms that are too hot or too cold (8.I), as well as a clear evaluation process (8.M).
  • Article 17 (Tuition Reimbursement) – we are still working to secure additional funding for workshops and conferences (17.A.2.a.3)
  • Article 18 (Compensation) – your team countered a 9% COLA for next year and 7% increase for 2025-26. We also reasserted much of our original language proposals for this article, including hourly pay for Outdoor School (18.D).
  • Appendix C (Extended Responsibility Assignments) – we added language to compel BSD to pay for the work that people are doing, rather than forcing programs to fundraise to cover those costs.

The BSD team countered the following articles:

  • Article 9 (Safe Learning Environment) and Appendix G (Student Conduct Plans) – management has removed the words “referral” and “room clears,” and has removed our proposed language establishing consistent mechanisms to track behaviors.
  • Article 11 (Work Year) – management is hinting that they will be working to bring back early release days (though they made it clear it would not happen next year), and is working to increase administrator-directed PD time.
  • Article 10 (Professional Working Conditions) – management finally responded to this article after our initial proposal on February 15th. They declined to even counter our language around class size and caseload caps, saying that hard caps would mean, amongst other things, that they wouldn’t be able to layoff staff in case of a budget shortfall. In a response to our proposal to increase the plan time of elementary specialists to be equivalent to their peers, the BSD team said they can’t do that because they “use specialists to ensure classroom teachers get their plan time.”Needless to say, your bargaining team was incredibly disappointed in the District’s response. That said, it was great to have SO many BEA members sitting behind the bargaining team as the BSD team presented this article!

You can see all proposals and tentative agreements at beavertonea.org/bargaining under the “Bargaining Proposals” tab.

Our next bargaining session is May 30, 10 am-4 pm at the BSD office. You can watch the session live on BSD’s YouTube Channel.

Please keep wearing your BEA blue on Tuesdays to show District management that we are stronger together. Your CAT members and building reps have more information about supporting the bargaining team and standing up for the schools our students and members deserve (including some upcoming gauntlets!), so be on the lookout for information from them!

In solidarity,
Your BEA Bargaining Team

Suzanne Albrich, Chair, Cooper Mountain ES
Julia Barto, Fir Grove ES
Amy Borlaug, Five Oaks MS
Lora Dee, Sexton Mountain ES
Alysoun Lowe, ISB
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Elizabeth Lynch, Scholls Heights ES
Adam Oyster-Sands, Westview HS
Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Janine Weir, Merlo Station Campus

Emily McCann, OEA Staff
Sara Whelan, OEA Staff

beavertonea.org/bargaining

———-

May 2, 2024

Good evening colleagues,

We finished our sixth bargaining session with the BSD management team this afternoon. You can watch today’s bargaining session here.

Today, your BEA team countered articles around Association Rights and Temporary and Part Time Employees:

The BSD team countered the following articles:

  • Article 13 (Layoff and Recall) – we won language specifying a timeline of notice of layoff
  • Article 14 (Job Related Injury or Quarantine) – this language was moved to Article 15.K.
  • Article 15 (Paid Leaves of Absence) – we won language around bereavement leave, protections for members on leave around expectations of work-related duties and communication, guaranteed access to District electronic infrastructure for members on leave, and retained the sick leave bank.
  • Article 16 (Unpaid Leaves of Absence) – we won similar language here as in article 15 around expectations of work-related duties and communication and access to District electronic infrastructure while on leave.

We went back and forth a few times with these articles, and reached several tentative agreements during this session for Article 7 (Temporary and Part Time Employees), Article 13 (Layoff and Recall), Article 14 (Job Related Injury and Quarantine), Article 15 (Paid Leaves of Absence), and Article 16 (Unpaid Leaves of Absence). You can see all proposals and tentative agreements at beavertonea.org/bargaining under the “Bargaining Proposals” tab.

Our next bargaining session is May 16, 2-8 pm at the BEA office. You can watch the session live on our YouTube channel. As a reminder, we also made a video explaining the bargaining process and timeline—check it out here.

Please keep wearing your BEA blue on Tuesdays to show District management that we are stronger together. Your CAT members and building reps will have more information about organizing for the very best contract over the next several weeks, so be on the lookout for information from them!

In solidarity,
Your BEA Bargaining Team

Suzanne Albrich, Chair, Cooper Mountain ES
Julia Barto, Fir Grove ES
Amy Borlaug, Five Oaks MS
Lora Dee, Sexton Mountain ES
Alysoun Lowe, ISB
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Elizabeth Lynch, Scholls Heights ES
Adam Oyster-Sands, Westview HS
Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Janine Weir, Merlo Station Campus

Emily McCann, OEA Staff
Sara Whelan, OEA Staff

———-

April 4, 2024

Good afternoon colleagues,

We just finished our fourth bargaining session with the BSD management team.

Today, your BEA team countered articles around transfers and the job expo, language around layoff and recall, as well as language around insurance benefits. We know from our bargaining survey that maintaining robust and affordable insurance coverage is a priority for members, and we are taking into account anticipated increases in insurance premiums as well as the overall budget available for this bargain as we negotiate. You can watch today’s bargaining session here:

  • Article 12 (Vacancy and Transfer) – we want to codify language around limiting the number of transfers allowed for a single employee, as well as the assistance for members who are involuntarily transferred
  • Appendix J (MOU on Article 12) – we are working to hold management accountable to earlier dates for placements and the Job Expo
  • Article 13 (Layoff and Recall) – we want to increase the time of notice for layoffs
  • Article 19 (Group Insurance Benefits) – we are proposing an increase in the cap of $300 in year one and an additional $250 in year two. If we agreed on these numbers, this would definitively maintain two insurance plans under the cap (which means no monthly premium costs to members).

Your BEA team also proposed an MOU (a temporary agreement) around an adjustment in the timeline for when we receive paychecks (shifting from a payment year of August to July to a payment year of September to August), along with a $1,500 bonus. We encourage you to check out a brief slide deck describing the MOU here (here is a presentation of that slide deck). If you have any questions about this MOU, please check in with your CAT member.

The BSD team countered the following articles:

We also reached our very first Tentative Agreement! This means that we have reached agreement on all the language in this article.

Our next bargaining session is April 10, 12-4 pm at the BEA office. You can watch live on our YouTube channel. As a reminder, we also made a video explaining the bargaining process and timeline—check it out here.

Please keep wearing your BEA blue on Tuesdays to show District management that we are stronger together. We have a competition going on during the month of April, and the buildings that have the highest percentage of members in blue will receive paletas in May!

In solidarity,
Your BEA Bargaining Team

Suzanne Albrich, Chair, Cooper Mountain ES
Julia Barto, Fir Grove ES
Amy Borlaug, Five Oaks MS
Lora Dee, Sexton Mountain ES
Alysoun Lowe, ISB
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Elizabeth Lynch, Scholls Heights ES
Adam Oyster-Sands, Westview HS
Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Janine Weir, Merlo Station Campus

Emily McCann, OEA Staff
Sara Whelan, OEA Staff

———

March 14, 2024

Good afternoon colleagues,

We just finished our third bargaining session with the BSD management team, and we’re making slow progress toward agreements.

Before we talk about which articles were presented today, we want to clarify some language from last week’s communication. When we say that we “passed articles,” that means that we physically passed articles across the table. It does NOT mean that we have reached an agreement. When we do reach an understanding at the table, that is called a “tentative agreement” or “TA.” We’ve started a Bargaining Terms Glossary if you’re interested. We’ll be adding to it as more terms come up.

Today, we passed language for around safe learning environments. We spent time sharing stories from members at the table so that the management team heard current examples of events at schools that are impacting students and staff—we wanted to highlight patterns and inconsistencies around plans and policies, responses to requests for support (or lack thereof), re-entry conversations for students, room clears, and communication with impacted staff. You can watch today’s bargaining session here:

The BSD team countered articles on the grievance process (Article 4), complaints concerning employee performance (Article 6), temporary employees (Article 7) and the layoff and recall process (Article 13). The articles they passed are below:

Your BEA team was also able to counter Articles 4 and 6 during the session today. We’re getting close to agreement on those two articles:

Our next bargaining session is April 4, 12-4 pm at the BSD office. You can watch live on our YouTube channel. As a reminder, we also made a video explaining the bargaining process and timeline—check it out here.

Don’t forget that your reps and CAT members have posters with our bargaining platform—please sign these as a show of solidarity, get a picture with the members at your buliding, and then display them proudly at your worksite. Please keep wearing your BEA blue on Tuesday to show District management that we are stronger together!

In solidarity,
Your BEA Bargaining Team

Suzanne Albrich, Chair, Cooper Mountain ES
Julia Barto, Fir Grove ES
Amy Borlaug, Five Oaks MS
Lora Dee, Sexton Mountain ES
Alysoun Lowe, ISB
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Elizabeth Lynch, Scholls Heights ES
Adam Oyster-Sands, Westview HS
Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Janine Weir, Merlo Station Campus

Emily McCann, OEA Staff
Sara Whelan, OEA Staff

———-

March 7, 2024

Good evening colleagues,

Tonight we had our second session with the BSD management team. We passed language for utilizing sick leave (and the sick leave bank), streamlining the grievance process, and clarifying timelines for layoff and recall, among other things. The articles below were passed:

The BSD team countered our articles on imminent threat and administrative support for student conduct plans (Article 9), transfers and the Job Expo (Article 12), and compensation and insurance benefits (Articles 18 and 19). The articles they passed are below (we will provide links to these on our website as soon as we receive them in electronic form from the management team):

  • Article 5 (Just Cause)
  • Article 9 (Safe Learning Environment)
  • Article 12 (Vacancies and Transfer)
  • Article 18 (Compensation) – 3% increase over each of the next 3 years
  • Article 19 (Group Insurance Benefits) – increase of $50 on the monthly cap (which falls very short of predicted insurance premium increases)

Our next bargaining session is March 14th, 12-4 pm at the BEA office. You can watch today’s bargaining session here. We also made a video explaining the bargaining process and timeline—check it out here.

Your reps/CAT members have posters with our bargaining platform—please sign these as a show of solidarity. Many of your CAT members were in the room with us tonight or watching on Zoom, and will have more information about the session. Please keep wearing your BEA blue on Tuesday to show District management that we are stronger together!

In solidarity,
Your BEA Bargaining Team

Suzanne Albrich, Chair, Cooper Mountain ES
Julia Barto, Fir Grove ES
Amy Borlaug, Five Oaks MS
Lora Dee, Sexton Mountain ES
Alysoun Lowe, ISB
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Elizabeth Lynch, Scholls Heights ES
Adam Oyster-Sands, Westview HS
Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Janine Weir, Merlo Station Campus

Emily McCann, OEA Staff
Sara Whelan, OEA Staff

——————-

February 15, 2024

Good evening colleagues, 

Today was our first bargaining session with the District. We are at the table working for better working conditions for educators and better learning conditions for students. We passed aggressive and exciting proposals today to secure the schools our students and educators deserve, and we are excited that we were able to cover so much ground in our first session with management.

BSD provided “terms of engagement” that they have chosen to follow. Your BEA team declined to agree to those terms as we believe in an open and transparent process and don’t want to remove any of the tools we have to secure the best contract for members. We did agree to start the bargaining timeline, outlined below, today.

Your BEA team proposed the following articles in our opening today:

The BSD team proposed the following articles (we will provide links to these on our website as soon as we receive them in electronic form from the management team):

  • Article 1 – Status of Agreement
  • Article 2 – Association Rights and Responsibilities
  • Article 4 – Grievance Procedures
  • Article 6 – Complaints Concerning Employee Performance
  • Article 13 – Layoff and Recall
  • Article 15 – Paid Time Off

The BEA team was also able to offer a counterproposal to Article 2 (calendar committee!) this evening.

Our next bargaining session is March 7th, 4-8 pm at the District Office. Your CAT team members will be able to attend in person, and anyone can watch us on YouTube here. We are stronger together!

In solidarity, 

Your BEA Bargaining Team,
Suzanne Albrich, Chair, Cooper Mountain ES
Juila Barto, Fir Grove ES
Amy Borlaug, Five Oaks MS
Lora Dee, Sexton Mountain ES
Alysoun Lowe, ISB
Katie Lukins, BEA Vice President
Elizabeth Lynch, Scholls Heights ES
Adam Oyster-Sands, Westview HS
Lindsay Ray, BEA President
Janine Weir, Merlo Station Campus

Emily McCann, OEA Staff
Sara Whelan, OEA Staff

Bargaining Proposals

Check here to see the status of each article (which team is holding it, when it was last countered, whether or not there is a tentative agreement, etc.).

 

    BEA and BSD Bargaining Teams

    Your BEA bargaining team members are:

    • Suzanne Albrich, Chair, 4th grade teacher
    • Julia Barto, Kindergarten teacher
    • Amy Borlaug, middle school science teacher
    • Lora Dee, elementary structured routines center (SRC) teacher
    • Alysoun Lowe, secondary language arts teacher
    • Katie Lukins, elementary teacher, BEA Vice President
    • Adam Oyster-Sands, high school language arts teacher
    • Lindsay Ray, high school math teacher, BEA President
    • Janine Weir, middle school Project Reset teacher

    BEA is also working with the following OEA staff:

    • Emily McCann, OEA Uniserv Consultant for BEA
    • Sara Whelan, OEA Uniserv Consultant for BEA
    • Robert Young, Statewide Bargaining Coordinator

    The BSD bargaining team members are:

    • Janine Mobley, Chair, Executive Administrator for Human Resources
    • Brian Hungerford, Hungerford Law Firm Partner
    • Matthew Casteel, Aloha High School Principal
    • Johanna Castillo, Meadow Park Middle School Principal
    • Michelle Fowles, Human Resources Supervisor
    • Veronica Galvan, Administrator for Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment
    • Laurie Huntwork, Jacob Wismer Elementary Principal
    • Erica Marson, Executive Administrator for Human Resources
    • Susan Rodriguez, Chief Human Resources Officer
    • Mike Schofield, Associate Superintendent of Business Services
    • Curtis Semana, Executive Administrator for Human Resources
    • Shirley Valladares, Assistant Administrator for Special Education
    • Karen Pérez, BSD School Board Chair