Sequim teachers officially have a new two-year contract with Sequim School District increasing salaries 12.5-14 percent.

The Sequim School Board unanimously approved the new collective bargaining agreement on Sept. 10 between the Sequim Education Association (SEA) and the district with director Brandino Gibson excused.

Gary Neal, Sequim School’s superintendent, said this year’s 2018-2019 contract includes a 12.5 percent increase to all teacher’s base salaries.

With extra district and state funded days the increase comes in at about 13.9 percent for teachers before taxes, said Isaac Rapelje, one of SEA’s collective bargaining negotiators and a teacher at Sequim High School.

Sequim teachers with a Bachelor’s of Arts, 0 years of experience and 0 credits, start at a base salary of $46,198, and teachers with a Master’s of Arts plus 90 credits or a PhD with 16 years of experience or more receive a max base salary of $87,075, according to the district’s new salary schedule.

Teachers who have served more than 20 years with the district also received a longevity amount of $500.

Compared to Washington State’s 2017-2018 K-12 salary allocation model, Sequim teachers make about $9,677 more at the lowest paid base salary (BA 0 years, 0 credits) and $18,239 more at the highest paid base salary (MA +90 or Ph.D).

The State’s 2017-2018 lowest paid base salary was $36,521 and $68,836 at the highest paid base salary, according to its K-12 salary allocation model.

Neal said the sliding salary schedule is based on credits and years of experience.

“The district and the Association wanted to attract younger teachers and keep experienced teachers,” he said.

“Those two ends (of the salary schedule) got higher percentages.”

The new contract spans over two years, Neal said, from 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, but it is open for salaries to change if the state increases salary rates for the 2019-2020 school year to meet inflation rates.

Rapelje said the second year of the contract has a minimum of a three percent increase or an amount determined by the Consumer Price Index, whichever is higher.

Neal said the district had to create its own salary schedule with the SEA bargaining team with little guidance from the state. He said salaries needed to start from about $40,000 and capped at about $90,000 as required by the McCleary state ruling.

Another change from the McCleary decision, Neal said, was increasing the base salary by 10 percent at five years of experience on the salary schedule.

“Rolling (the salary schedule) out this year was complicated because the state did not provide a salary schedule,” he said.

“Every district had an option of putting a salary schedule together.”

SEA president Aaron Reno and Rapelje presented the contract at the board meeting on Monday and said this year’s negotiating process was much smoother than last year’s.

“It was amicable the entire time, organized, and there was a lot of communication,” Reno said. “We got 98 percent approval from our members.”

“As a teacher, being able to start the year with a contract was a big advantage versus last year,” Rapelje said.

“By having a contract it started the year off right; the money makes you happy but getting the contract done made the students start of the year much different than last year.”

Classified staff stand together

While certificated staff appear happy with their salary increases, classified staff filled the board room on Monday standing along the walls and back of the room as some voiced their concerns in asking the district for comparable wages to neighboring school districts.

District employees with different bargaining groups said they remain in negotiations with the school district for wage increases for admininstrators and classified employees — secretaries, paraeducators, bus drivers, and maintenance workers.

Groups of meeting attendees wore purple shirts that read, “Secretary Strong” and many teachers wore red shirts to stand in solidarity to support wage increases for classified staff.

“I have five paras I work with every day … and they are skilled in so many areas,” said Tiffany Malean, a teacher at Helen Haller Elementary School.

“They always have a good attitude and come in with a smile on their face … At the end of their shift, they get to leave and go to a second job because they can’t afford to pay their rent, and that’s not right; they deserve a livable wage.”

Kristi Toth, maintenance and operations coordinator for the district, spoke about wage disparity between Sequim and other districts.

“Our counterparts in Port Angeles make substantially more than those of us in Sequim for performing the same job classifications,” she said.

Toth said the office coordinator position at Port Angeles School District (PASD) earns 15 percent more than those in Sequim, the PASD registrar earns more than 30 percent than Sequim, and attendance secretaries in PASD earn over 27 percent more than Sequim.

“We are intelligent, articulate and capable administration professionals who have ever increasing workloads, complying with local, state and federal requirements,” she said.

“We respectfully request to earn comparable and fair wage.”

For more information on the Sept. 10 board meeting, visit the district’s website at sequimschools.org.

Reach Erin Hawkins at ehawkins@sequimgazette.com.

Sequim Education Association secretary Carol Harms, back right, spoke during public comments and expresses her support for fair wages for classified staff at Sequim School District. Other union members wore red and classified staff wore purple and stood in solidarity as she spoke at the Sept. 10 board meeting. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins

Tiffany Malean, a teacher at Helen Haller Elementary School, spoke on behalf of paraeducators in the district at the Sept. 10 board meeting, acknowledging the five paras she works with at her school on a daily basis. She advocates for fair wages for classified staff, such as paraeducators. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins