Overall, the last bargaining session on December 17th progressed as planned. JESPA and the district seem to be on the same page regarding cooperation and efficiency of the bargaining process. While the district made a misstep in the first session by not having solutions to their points of interest per the agreed upon agenda, they were prepared and followed the agenda this time.
What should concern all ESPs in Jeffco was the district’s language regarding removing “non-labor related issues.” This is a call-back to an interaction between JESPA leaders and the School Board during study session on December 11th. During that session, a school board member, Erin Kenworthy, cast doubt on whether common good issues belong at the bargaining table. This signals to ESPs that workers rights and the wellbeing of the communities they live in end at the school doors. ESPs are often parents and community members at the school they work in. Divorcing their community issues from their work issues is a failure to recognize that the employees are the community. Common good issues, like bathroom access for employees or food security for students are at risk of being rolled back.
Other articles of interest to the district are:
- Article 2- Organizational Rights
- “Revising and specifying release time allowances to balance association business and minimize the impact to students and departments.”
- Article 4- Work Assignments
- The hiring process at large
- “Clarify ‘other duties as assigned’”
- Article 10- Corrective Action
- Clarify representation in corrective action conversation
- Article 12- Grievances
- “Requiring an informal administrator meeting prior to initiating the formal grievance process”
- Article 13- Transportation
- “Review and refine language around guaranteed bid time, extra duty pay, and bidding procedures.”
- “Refine staffing ratios.”
- Article 16- Food Service
- “Review and consider all language that is non-labor related.”
You can review both the JESPA Interests and Solutions and the District Interest and Solutions documents presented at each session so far.
The next scheduled session is on January 7th at 8am. This is a great opportunity for anyone who works evening shifts to attend bargaining. At this session, both the district and JESPA will be presenting on different articles.
JESPA will present edits and revisions on:
- Article 1 (Definitions)
- Article 2 (Organizational Rights)
- Article 8 (Leaves)
- Article 9 (Evaluations)
The district will present edits and revisions on:
- Articles 10 (Corrective Action)
- Article 12 (Grievances)
- Article 13 (Transportation)
