(BROOKINGS-HARBOR)—On January 31, 2017 the Brookings-Harbor Education Association received a Recommended Order from the Oregon Employment Relations Board (ERB) finding that the Brookings-Harbor School District violated state law when it unilaterally increased student contact time and teaching time at Kalmiopsis Elementary and Brookings-Harbor High School in the fall of 2015. It rejected the District’s defense that there was a “business necessity” for the immediate increase, noting that any emergency was of the District’s own making because of how the District chose to calculate instructional time. It also found that the District acted unlawfully when it withdrew permission for the Association to make a presentation at an all-staff in-service because it did not like how the Association handled a grievance. Finally, the order rejects the District’s novel claims that the Association somehow acted unlawfully when it advocated for its members. The parties are ordered back to the table to bargain a remedy for the violation.
In response to the decision, Association President Dawn Bennett made the following statement:
In November of the 2015-2016 school year, the District added a significant amount of student contact time in both the elementary and high schools, arguing that the increase was necessary in order to comply with Oregon Department of Education Standards. The Association supports increasing student instructional time, if done thoughtfully and lawfully. For example, elementary students used to have additional instruction time when the District had music, art and physical education specialists. But the Association objected to the District’s ill-conceived and unilateral decision to increase workload without bargaining. The change took away up to two and half hours per week of time during the workday teachers need to meet the other demands of their job – contacting parents, tracking and reporting student progress, following up with behavior support, meeting with specialist to support students, etc. Of course, this means that teachers spend even more of their own time on school related activities, causing significant stress and burnout. No wonder our District has had a difficult time hiring and retaining teachers.
The Association attempted to resolve this informally, but when the District took actions and positions that demonstrated a fundamental disrespect of our members, we filed this complaint. We are pleased with this result and look forward to working together with the District to ensure that our students receive the best education possible.
