Just two months after going on strike in part because of class sizes and case loads, the Kent Education Association has filed a grievance with the Kent School District alleging the district has failed to provide the number of paraeducator hours guaranteed to special education teachers by the new contract.
In addition, the grievance alleges the district has not provided the information on case loads and enrollments that the union has requested, calling it a failure of the district to act in “good faith,” according to the grievance.
“Our members didn’t stomp out on the streets for 18 days to have the district ignore the agreement,” said KEA UniServe Representative and bargaining team member Mike McNett.
District officials said they were working to provide the information requested.
“The district is working diligently to comply with the guidelines in the contract,” District Communications Director Becky Hanks said.
According to McNett, the union has “anecdotal” information from members and building representatives that the district is not providing the number of paraeducator hours required by the new contract. McNett said their information comes from teachers.
On Oct. 9, McNett sent an e-mail to the district requesting a list of special education teachers by school, assignment and Full Time Equivalency, including all teachers assigned special education, English Language Learners and other positions that come with paraeducator hours.
In addition, McNett in his e-mail requested the daily number of paraeducator time alloted to each of the teachers and the number of students assigned to each of those teachers.
The information was requested by Oct. 14.
McNett said he received a packet of information from the district that day, which coincided with a school board meeting at which a class size/caseload update was given. In that presentation, it was reported that a total of nine special education teachers were above target caseload levels.
But McNett said the numbers given at the meeting do not seem to coincide with the information the union received.
“You cannot get to these conclusions from what came from the packet,” he said. “There’s nothing that tells how many hours are assigned to each teacher and classroom.
“That raises the question: Does the district not know how many students are in each special ed class?,” McNett said, adding that if they know and are not providing the information, it is “malice” and if they don’t know, it is “incompetence.”
McNett in an Oct. 14 follow-up e-mail said the data he received did not indicate how many hours of para time are alloted to each of the listed teachers, shows one person as working 11 hours per day and contains inaccuracies, including teachers who do not work in the district this year.
“It is not data that responds to the association’s questions,” McNett said. “What it is, is a listing of the students’ case managers.”
Hanks said the union was provided with the information it requested, though the format may not be exactly what KEA was looking for.
“It wasn’t in the way they wanted it,” she said, adding that there has been “transience with students and transience with teachers” at the beginning of this year and that they have not done this kind of reporting before.
KEA President Lisa Brackin Johnson added that the union asked for the names of the nine teachers who were over the case limit on the board presentation, but again did not receive the information.
“They would not or could not provide the answer,” she said.
Brackin Johnson, a former ELL teacher herself, said the additional paraeducator hours allow teachers, especially special education teachers, to focus on smaller groups while the paras handle other parts of the classroom, allowing for more individualized education.
“The paras are an integral part of the classroom and the instruction that goes on,” she said. “It’s a tremendous help.”
McNett added that the additional adults in the classroom also minimize health and safety concerns, especially with students who are violent or have behavioral problems.
“It’s the students who are missing out,” Brackin Johnson said. “They are not getting the help they’re supposed to have.”
Brackin Johnson added that the information for which they are asking is the same information they ask from teachers, so they know the information is out there.
Hanks said the district has an “absolute commitment” to be responsive and is working to provide the information requested in a different format and said “We abide by the contract.”
“The district is really working to get the information out in a more user-friendly way,” she said.
Hanks also said the district was working with principals to get the relief promised to the teachers who need it.
“There are people we’re working to get the staffing for,” she said.
The union and the district have meetings scheduled for next week regarding the grievance and the paraeducator hours.
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