Final Offers with SKEA Submitted to State Mediator

Salem-Keizer Public Schools and the Salem Keizer Education Association have both filed their final offers with the State Mediator.

The final offer provides clarification related to the district's proposed definition of FTE. The new language includes a series of explicit protections related to FTE and is provided in earnest and without hesitation.

1. This proposal commits to automatically rounding up all employees that fall between 0.90 FTE and 0.99 FTE to a 1.00 FTE. This will further ensure that no employee is shorted full-time compensation and benefits. 
2. This proposal reinforces and connects the many existing contractual protections around preparatory time to the definition of FTE. It also explicitly recognizes that a teacher’s workweek is a blend of student-facing and non-student facing time.
3. This proposal guarantees that employees who regularly take on instructional duties during their preparatory period will be compensated for the period plus 30 minutes a week to compensate them for planning, grading and other duties required of them.

Although called final offers, this is part of the state-defined process but does not prevent both parties from continuing to meet. The next scheduled meeting between the district and SKEA is February 29.

Both offers can be viewed on the Employee Relations Board website.