The Lake Washington School District (LWSD) and the Lake Washington Education Association (LWEA) have agreed to a new contract for the next four years, the 2013-14 through 2016-17 school years. The contract was ratified by 96.8 percent of the members of the LWEA in an online vote that concluded on May 29. The Lake Washington School District Board of Directors voted to approve the new contract on June 3 at its regular board meeting.

As part of the contract, the two organizations negotiated the school calendar for the next five years, which will follow a similar pattern to the district’s current calendar.

The two organizations used an interest-based bargaining process, which involves a joint problem-solving approach. “We all have the same goal of educating students, and we work best when we work together to that end,” noted Dr. Traci Pierce. “The result has been a contract that meets the shared interests of both parties.”

“We appreciate the openness of the district to listening and exploring issues that are important to teachers and help them to do their best work,” said Kevin Teeley, president of the LWEA. “This contract shows the district’s respect for teachers as professionals and a commitment to collaboration.”

Highlights of the contract related to compensation include eliminating extra unpaid days that teachers worked in lieu of a 1.9 percent pay cut instituted by the state in the 2010-11 school year. Teachers will have one additional paid training day in August, for a total of five, plus three full days for training during the school year. Teachers also will get a 2 percent salary increase, the first increase since the 2008-09 school year. Teachers will get an additional increase of 2 percent in 2014-15.

The details of a new state-mandated, four-tiered teacher professional growth and evaluation system, which now includes student-growth measures, were also negotiated as part of the agreement. While the district has had a four-tiered professional growth and evaluation model in place for many years, the new agreement fully aligns the system with new state law.

The school year calendar is also developed through the bargaining process. The LWEA asked for input from its members while the LWSD surveyed parents. Surveys asked teachers and parents about their calendar preferences, and results from both surveys helped to inform the development of the calendar for the next five years. The result is a calendar that is similar to current patterns:

• In most years, school will start the day after Labor Day in September

• Mid-winter break will remain in place, following the current pattern of two days off plus the Presidents Day long weekend

• Spring break will remain one week

• Early release will remain on Wednesdays

Copies of the school calendars, together with parent survey results and explanation, are posted online at http://www.lwsd.org/About/Pages/District-Calendar.aspx (or go to www.lwsd.org then click on School Calendar).