Columbia Heights teachers and others packed the visitors’ gallery during a labor rally before attending the school board meeting on Feb. 9. (Al Zdon)
Columbia Heights teachers and the District 13 School Board have agreed to a mediation package. The details of the package were not announced, and they must be approved by Local 710 of Education Minnesota, the teachers union.
The mediation agreement was reached after a daylong session, ending at 10 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 9.
The session concluded a week of teacher activity that included a labor rally on the Columbia Heights High School grounds, and packing the visitors’ gallery at the school board meeting that night. Their message was clear: They have gone 220 days without a contract, and they didn’t like it.
The teachers began voting on the mediated contract Feb. 13. If they okay it, it will go to the school board for final approval on Feb. 21.
The district and teachers have been meeting since May of last year seeking agreement on a new contract.
The “Rally at the Flagpole” drew about 90 teachers and supporters including Denise Specht, the president of Education Minnesota, the parent union to Columbia Heights Local 710.
Both at the rally and later at the school board, the teachers didn’t talk about money, but other issues such as class sizes and the influx of students for whom English is a second language.
The school’s website notes that the district has one of the smaller voter-approved operating levies in the metro area, more than a thousand dollars per student less than the Twin City average.
Voters in the district did pass a referendum this past November, but the district’s director of communications, Kristen Stuenkel, noted that the money will not be available until July.
Kristen Sinicariello, the union’s political liaison, said teachers are simply asking for pay increases similar to other neighboring districts, which have been in the 4.5 to 6% range. The teachers are also seeking changes in the class size language in the contract.
Sinicariello also noted that the district at present has no academic counselors. These counselors typically help students work with classes, schedules, credits and preparing for college admission.