MEAD, Wash. – Teachers at Mead School District are negotiating changes in their contracts to better address classroom needs.
The current contract is set to expire on August 31. Representatives from the Mead Educators Association (MEA) and the Mead School District met Monday afternoon for the latest round of bargaining. But NonStop Local heard from MEA president Toby Doolittle that these negotiations did not result in a signed contract.
Further negotiations are set to take place later this week and early next week.
Educators are voicing their concerns and calling for support in several key areas, including prioritizing school safety and creating more special education resources.
“Well, I’m here for the needs of my students,” Kindergarten teacher Cherish Shrader said. “I’m in the classroom every single day. I’ve been teaching for 22 years, and I’ve seen those needs change.”
Shrader is advocating for the district to acknowledge these evolving needs.
“We need the district to recognize those changes,” Shrader said.
She believes these changes should be reflected in the contract to create more manageable classrooms and equip teachers to handle diverse student needs.
“I teach kindergarten, I have 20 students, and it’s just me. There is a wide variety of needs,” Shrader said.
The rally was organized by Toby Doolittle, president of the Mead Educators Association.
“We are 100% willing, capable and able to tackle the demands of our jobs. We just need the district to give us the same support,” Doolittle said.
Support for special education teachers and staff was also a focus at the rally, with Shrader noting, “Our para-ED staff is stretched so thin, our special education teachers are stretched too thin.”
Following the rally, three representatives from the Mead Educators Association began negotiations while educators continued to demonstrate in the heat.
NonStop Local reached out to the Mead School District, who gave the following statement: “The Mead School District deeply values the incredible work our teachers do each day to inspire and educate students. For the past few months, we have been engaged in collaborative, good-faith negotiations with the Mead Education Association. Bargaining is always a process of listening, sharing, and finding solutions together, and we appreciate the constructive dialogue with our teachers’ representatives. We remain optimistic about the progress we’ve made and are committed to reaching an agreement that supports our educators, sets our students up for success and upholds our responsibility to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
The current contract is set to expire on August 31, but it is still uncertain if the lack of an agreement will lead to strikes, with several teachers saying it’s too early to predict the outcome.
