Medford School District Makes Provisional Deal With MEA After Contract Negotiations
MEDFORD, Ore. — The Medford School District (MSD) tentatively reached an agreement with the Medford Education Association (MEA) earlier this month following 10 months of negotiations which began on April 19, 2023. Wage increases, class sizes, and other teacher issues are addressed in the new agreement.
The district issued a statement via its website expressing deep appreciation to both the bargaining teams for the many hours put into developing and negotiating a contract that will serve teachers and students. With tensions high during the negotiating process, at least two rallies were staged during the negotiating period, including the “Stand Up For Our Students” rally that was held by MSD teachers in January and hosted by MEA.
Announcing that the agreement had been tentatively agreed that would see a new contract for licensed educators, MSD believes that the contract is a significant milestone that has arisen from ongoing collaborative efforts that featured constructive dialogue between the negotiating team. In demonstrating the shared commitment to providing the best possible education for Medford students, MSD shared their belief that this agreement recognizes the teachers’ hard work and dedication.
Medford School District Contract Details
MSD published the contract online and indicated that the highlights of the new agreement, covering MEA members until June 30, 2026, are as follows:
- Salary Increase: A 13.55% cumulative cost of living raise will be paid to licensed educators over three years.
- Reimbursement of unused leave: Pay for personal leave reimbursement that has not been used will increase to $250 a day from its previous levels of between $50 and $100.
- Retrospective pay increases: COLAS, extra duty stipends, and special education overage pay will have pay increases implemented retroactively.
- Medical insurance: A zero out-of-pocket costs, high-deductible medical plan with dental and vision coverage for members and their families will remain the same. The insurance provides a monthly stipend if the member opts out of district insurance.
- Class size: Class-size thresholds designed to address class size concerns from parents and teachers have been created.
- Special Educators support: Additional support will be made available to special educators. This includes adult-to-student ratios as well as caseload compensation.
- Support for extreme behavior: Additional support will also be made available to those educators who are faced with students displaying extreme behavior/s. Educators will now have the ability to remove particular students from the classroom for a specified period of time. MSD is also committed to creating a behavior matrix,
MSD said that to make sure that the learning environment is safe for all students as well as staff and to ensure that the environment is conducive to learning and teaching, they are committed to maintaining a significant effort of time and resources.
Details have been published on the MSD website and questions or queries can be raised by emailing [email protected].
