Dear Members,
Beginning during the 2022-2023 school year, the Association started advocating strongly for the use of district salary savings to support current certified educators. This advocacy work led to a historic MOU signed last year between the Association and WCSD that provided financial support for educators whose class size or caseload numbers were excessive. This was the first time that any Association/district in Nevada had negotiated an agreement like this and it brought nearly $7 million dollars back into the bargaining unit. While we understand that no policy is perfect, establishing this type of precedent for the use of salary savings was no small feat.
The agreement reached last year was very labor intensive for the district’s team to implement, so we set out to renegotiate the MOU and try to develop a system that still held true to the intent of the original agreement, to support educators and schools which are facing short staffing but was more manageable and sustainable to implement. This led us to an agreement which shifted the focus to the entire school site and special programs with vacancies. This made the implementation of the agreement more manageable and took into account unfilled allocations impacting the entire school and their staff.
I’m excited to announce that the Board of Trustees just voted to approve this new MOU and we will AGAIN be bringing over $6 million dollars back into our bargaining unit to support staff. A lot of collaborative work and effort on both sides continues to help us establish a culture and expectation of a district that is supportive of it’s employees.
It’s important for all of us to remember that no agreement or policy is perfect. There are always going to be scenarios and situations that aren’t fully covered, and this agreement is no different. There are pros and cons to changes that were made from last year but ultimately significantly more members within our bargaining unit are going to receive additional compensation due to unfilled school site allocations. In addition, every certified staff member will receive a $500 bonus.
Specific details of the MOU will be going out soon to all educators and as information is provided, we are always here to answer any questions.
We will continue to push aggressively to shift the past practices and culture of our district and establish new practices that better serve our educators and students. As news of this agreement starts to come out, please share it with your colleagues, especially nonmembers. The reality is every person in our unit is going to benefit from the work and efforts of the union and the more that we can share this positive work, and be supportive and inclusive to ALL educators, the more we’ll be able to grow and strengthen the Association.
Thank you all for being members. YOU are the union.