On Monday evening Bend-La Pine Schools and Bend Education Association reached a conceptual agreement on a new contract for certified employees in the school district including teachers, nurses, school psychologists, social workers and others.
The four-year collective bargaining agreement concludes negotiations that began last spring. The bargaining teams for the district and BEA were prepared to jointly request the assistance of a state mediator if an agreement could not be reached. A mediator won’t be needed now.
“This agreement is the result of lengthy and deep discussions with certified employees in our district on issues that matter both to them and to us,” Superintendent Steve Cook said. “We are committed to continually working to make Bend-La Pine Schools an employer of choice in our region, and to ensure our employees feel valued and cared for. We move closer to these goals with the mutual agreements we worked out through these negotiations.”
“I appreciate all of our educators for their patience as we worked through so many issues over the past eight months,” Dr. Cook added. “I also want to thank both bargaining teams for their resilience and tenacity in bringing this agreement to bear.”
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement that prioritizes improvements to workload, learning environments, professional compensation and access to healthcare,” BEA President Sarah Barclay said. “The bargaining teams were dedicated to finding solutions to issues that our members advanced as necessary improvements for our students, staff and community, and persevered through a difficult process until those issues were addressed sufficiently. This agreement is a step in the right direction, and we still have work to do, together.”
The conceptual agreement provides a cost-of-living increase for certified employees: 6.2 percent for the current school year, retroactive to July 1, 2023; and 4.15% for 2024-25, effective July 1, 2024. The agreement also includes increases in the district’s insurance premium contribution: $50 a month effective Oct. 1, 2023; and $45 a month effective Oct. 1, 2024.
The bargaining teams also agreed to reopen discussions in spring 2025 to negotiate salary and insurance cap adjustments for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years. In addition, each party will be allowed to reopen two other language items in the contract at that time.
The parties will bring the proposed 2023-27 collective bargaining agreement, which includes dozens of negotiated changes, to the BEA membership for a ratification vote and to the School Board for approval.
The District is still negotiating with the Oregon School Employees Association Chapter 6, representing classified employees in the district. Bargaining sessions are scheduled for Wednesday and Friday of this week.
