Tukwila teachers vote to approve contract with 70 percent vote

By TRACEY COMPTON
Tukwila Reporter Reporter
September 23, 2011 · Updated 10:18 AM 

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Tukwila teacher and staff unions ratified their contracts with the Tukwila School District in a 70 percent approval vote on Sept. 13.

Teachers and staff started the school year without contracts on Sept. 6 with 2,856 district students.

The contracts are for two years and partially resolved some of the issues the unions brought to the district.

The contracts give teachers and staff some more time to do professional development. Also, they came to an agreement on the last three years of medical insurance money the unions say are owed to them because of an oversight by the district.

Colleen Nohl, president of the Tukwila Education Association, believes the misuse of the insurance money goes back longer than the last three years, but said, “We just wanted to get back to school and get the year going.”

Nina Melencio, executive director of human resources for the district, said the district had reached an agreement they could build on in the future with the unions.

“We have worked together to ensure that our students could begin classes on time, staff could begin to prepare for the start of school, and the focus could be on student learning,” Melencio said in an email. “The associations and the district will continue to collaborate on components of the contract that are important to both the association and the district.”

 

 

Contact Tukwila Reporter Reporter Tracey Compton at tcompton@tukwilareporter.com or 425-255-3484.

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