The McEA bargaining team believes:

• Our students are at the center of everything we do.
• McEA wants to embrace a new way of doing business--creating a shared collaboration model for the good of our students and community.
• An agreement on safety and revised, clear behavior supports language is critical in order to improve our schools and protect our students and educators.  Hybrid safety language is imperative right now.
• We were looking for an agreement with the District that would create classroom environments free of aggressive learning disruptions and make our schools a place where ALL students felt safe.
• We have a retired Superintendent and School Board who seem more concerned with maintaining the status quo than making changes that would lead to real improvements for our students.​​​

It’s clear that the District is hoping to pressure the McEA team to give up all safety language and “roll” the majority of the contract.  That way, they will continue to be able to run our schools with the “business as usual” top-down approach, instead of being held accountable for improved safety conditions and student support procedures.  For our students and educators, we will stand strong.

Mediation is a typical step in the process when the parties cannot reach agreement on their own.  Even with this turn of events, the McEA team is approaching mediation with a spirit of collaboration.  Just as we teach our students to approach difficult situations with a positive attitude, we will do the same.  We hope the district team joins us with a more open mind in this opportunity for change.

It’s more imperative than ever that we come together as ONE TEAM to find a resolution that benefits everyone’s interests.  A fair contract and signed MOU can be the first step towards healing and rebuilding the trust that is necessary to move forward collaboratively.

MCMINNVILLE EDUCATORS ARE WORRIED.
​​McMinnville professional educators have spent countless hours this summer, trying to get the District to collaborate on what our students, communities, and families need for back-to-school safety and learning.  The District has repeatedly ignored our suggestions and we are fearful of what this means for McMinnville students and educators. 

HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Contact Superintendent Maryalice Russell and School Board Chair Larry Vollmer
Urge them to sign the McEA proposed back-to-school Memo of Understanding (MOU). 
Let them know that YOU support safe, quality learning conditions for students and educators. 
Russell Phone:  503.565.4001 • Email:  Mrussell@msd.k12.or.us
Vollmer Phone: 503.830.6663 • Email: schoolboard@msd.k12.or.us

​On Wednesday afternoon, the District and Association agreed to meet to discuss the terms of an agreement that will define safety and learning conditions for fall.  Although the Association expected the Superintendent to be present during this conversation, the District  was represented by Steffanie Frost and Student Services Director Kevin Carroll.  Representing McEA was Interim President Adam Gray, Marc Dana, Erik Svec, and McEA union consultant Rebecca Konefal.
 
We discussed several issues including increased safety precautions, the educational structures that will allow educators, students, and parents to establish daily school routines while still considering home situations, the criteria for re-opening in-person learning, and the necessary supplies and supports for educators, students, and families to successfully navigate comprehensive distance learning.
 
Click HERE for our full proposal.   We will meet with the District again on Tuesday, August 18th.  

LETTER FROM MCEA DELIVERED TO THE MSD BOARD:
​
Good evening Dr. Russell, Melanie, School Board, staff and community members,

I would like to formally introduce myself to the McMinnville School Board. Many of you know me, but for those who don’t, I am Adam Gray, and I am acting as the Interim McMinnville Education Association President. I would like to address a few concerns that the McEA has in order to bring them to the attention of the School board.

Before I get into my prepared statement, I just want to elucidate a bit more about the process of collaboration between the Association and District when it came to crafting blueprints.  The idea to hold building level meetings to start crafting the ideas for the blueprints came from McEA.  Our leaders brought the idea forward to the District in a liaison meeting once we knew it was a fall requirement.  We even had the list of members ready to sit on those committees once the District agreed to form them and allow them to work. When the District dropped the collaborative process after the initial meetings, it was the Association that brought the issue back front and center and insisted on the collaborative planning resuming. I’d like to add that these members were unpaid for their hours of work during their brief summer break.

This brings me to my first concern tonight: communication.  In my last letter to the Board, the Association expressed concern that we have received member and parent feedback regarding a desire for better communication between the District and its stakeholders and we have not seen improvement in this area yet. The Association has broached this topic several times with District administration.  We have reiterated that we are committed to improving communication from our end--serving on District and building level committees, regularly requesting labor/management conversations on important topics as we approach fall and still we have been disappointed in the lack of reciprocity from the District.

As I mentioned earlier, for the last two months, McEA has been advocating for the District to include them in developing plans for the coming school year. The District has included some McEA participation on various committees; however these committees were not meeting regularly and we have found that a vast majority of the planning was being done behind closed doors without stakeholder input. Professional educators are best suited to understand the needed conditions and practices in our schools in order to establish an atmosphere which promotes safety--while also engages students in robust educational experiences.  We are concerned that the reality of this situation is not being accurately portrayed to you tonight by the District and the administration. 

A “business as usual” approach to planning by denying input from professional educators in the design and implementation of a novel form of education is irresponsible and potentially life threatening.  We are bringing this to your attention because we believe that as a district, we can do better and we MUST do better.

Our second concern is in regards to District priorities and the recent series of messages delivered from the Superintendent to the Association.  Time and again, Dr. Russell has shared that she is too busy or occupied to respond to Association communications and requests for meetings.  Instead she is delegating those communications to HR director Steffanie Frost, who then has to wait for Russell’s response to communicate back to the Association. These are the typical obstacles that the Association is experiencing from the District.  We are now involved in a frustrating and unnecessary game of telephone when it comes to communicating with the Superintendent over topics as important as the safety gear for students and educators and sanitizing procedures for our schools.

Time is running thin. We have three weeks until in-service begins.  That means three weeks to plan for contingencies, negotiate contract exemptions, organize buildings, acquire supplies, assign and move staff to needed locations, train staff on new Covid-related procedures, create new distancing and hygiene training modules for students, just to name a few.  
An immediate opportunity to show District commitment to working together would be through the development of a joint Covid-19 Rapid Response Team.  This team would function with key stakeholders, including administration, Association representatives and community members to respond to unanticipated developments throughout the year. There has never been a time in our history where we have needed to be more collaborative in our efforts than there is now. 

Educating our students requires the efforts of the School Board, Superintendent, staff, community and parents. We must all work together, not against each other. The Association has a motto of "One Team." Teamwork requires acknowledging the expertise of the team members, respecting the members, and trusting that the members of the team will do their best to work towards the expectations and needs of the group. The professional educators of McEA are ready to collaborate in order to provide the very best education possible for our students. 

We have so much potential to do right in this situation.  We can come together in shared leadership to find the safest and strongest way forward as a district.  We hope you will take steps to join us so that McMinnville School District can become the MODEL of safe learning that Carson was asking about tonight.

Thank you very much for your time and I am prepared to answer any questions that you might have.
​
Adam Gray
Interim McEA President

Please note that the School Board did not ask any questions.