Questions from the Community

This would be decided on a case-by-case basis during the Class Size Committee meeting. Based on the needs of the class, the building, and the resources available, possible solutions could be: Additional classified support hours, blended classrooms, reassignment of students within the building, hiring of additional staff, reassignment of teaching staff, or other ideas the group comes up with. All of these are listed in the latest Class Size Proposal from the District.

It is the District’s obligation to keep parents informed during this process, and ParentSquare is the most direct and effective way to communicate important updates to families.

As part of standard practice in school districts across Oregon and the nation, employee unions do not have access to District communication platforms or resources during a strike. We are also posting this information on the website, on the Licensed Bargaining page. These resources are intended for District use to provide information to families about the status of our schools, decisions impacting students, and updates on our efforts to resolve the strike.

The union has the right to share its perspective through its own platforms, and we respect their ability to communicate with their members and the public. Our focus remains on keeping families informed and working toward a resolution that brings students and staff back to the classroom.

The only way to remodel or add to schools is through the passing of a capital improvement bond or through taking a loan. A loan is a challenge as the District would be faced with interest rates, payments, and the bond rate would be affected as a loan is a financial liability. The most effective way to address this challenge is through passing a bond, which would take a vote by the citizens of Albany. The State does not provide funding for capital improvement and the general fund dollars received are not nearly enough for large scale construction projects.

Even though Albany may be growing, the enrollment in the District continues to decline slightly since COVID. Should the District begin to grow and more students enroll, the District would incorporate these students into student-staff ratios rather than wait for a class size appeal.

The State is involved at this point as they have appointed a state mediator to guide negotiations. The State cannot provide specific funding to any one district; it must be spread to all Districts through the State’s funding formula.

The District has evaluated the grant, requirements, and costs of receiving those grant monies. The non-competitive grant offered by the state does in fact provide funding for special education stipends. However, the grant money does not include associated payroll costs which are estimated to increase to 41% in the 25-26 school year. So, if the grant provided $533 dollars, the district would need to cover the additional $218 for each employee reducing the impact of that grant to just about half its value. The District has proposed to GAEA the possibility of accepting the grant with expenditure limitations to ensure the district is within our fiscal limitations.

The graduation date will not change. The District is working on a plan to make up days in ways other than adding days to the end of the year.

We know this situation has been tough on everyone, and it’s created some real challenges for relationships within our community. Once an agreement is reached, we’re committed to taking the steps necessary to rebuild trust and strengthen the connection between our teachers, families, and the District.

That process will include open conversations, listening to one another, and working together to refocus on what we all care about most—our students. In addition, as we implement new contract language, much of which has increased the number of collaborative committees and processes, trust can be built and re-established.  It won’t happen overnight, but we’re ready to do the work it takes to repair and move forward as a stronger community.

The District is working on a plan and will release the details as soon as we have it solidified. The District learned from Portland Public Schools last year that taking away holiday break was counterproductive and will not plan to implement that solution.

The District used all funds that were made available through ESSER. The District did not use ESSER funds to pay additional stipends to staff. Funds were used for summer school programs, interventions to close academic gaps that resulted from lost in-person instruction, and for some capital improvement projects. The construction costs rose significantly through the span of the projects, which consumed ESSER funds and eliminated the option to spend on other items.

Each year the District must complete an audit of our books using a third party. The results of that audit are sent to the State for review and funding is contingent upon an annual audit. The District’s budget is a public document that is built through community representatives, the District, and School Board. These are public meetings and the process is very transparent. More information can be found here: https://albany.k12.or.us/district/business/financial-information

As we mentioned in previous communications, the District can afford a 7% COLA for the main steps and a 9% COLA for the Longevity Step. If the union has other items that cost money, that would take away from the COLA the District is able to give. We explained this in the communication here: https://www.parentsquare.com/feeds/41854837

Schools are funded based on the state education budget coupled with enrollment. All students who are enrolled in GAPS schools bring funding through the state regardless of the county they live in. Those funds must cover all costs of the District, approximately 82% is for staffing. GAPS also receives grant dollars through the state through the High School Success Act (Measure 98), the Student Investment Account (SIA), and Early Literacy. These grants provide additional staffing, counselors, PE teachers at the elementary level, and support many programs in the District. There are additional monies that come from Federal Title funds to support schools with a high poverty rate, students who are English language learners, professional development for staff, and Special Education (up to 11% identified students. GAPS has 15% of students who are receiving special education services).

The only way local taxes would increase is if the voters elected to support either a capital 

improvement bond, which can only be used for construction, or an operations levy, which would be used for staffing. Pressure can be placed on our legislators to increase the base funding for education.

The District originally stated that a full teacher work day would be planned. The District is currently considering a late start for students on the first day back, with teachers reporting at normal start time.

At the close of the 30-day cooling-off period, both parties had one further legal option. The teachers had the option to give a 10-day notice of a strike, while the District had the option to implement its offer.  Such a case where the District would implement a contract during a strike is without precedent. The District would prefer to continue to work with teachers to negotiate an agreement. 

Coming back from this strike, it will be a challenge for all involved and will take time to repair those relationships. We will establish some guidelines for teachers in terms of what is shared with students. There should be no reason to discuss details of the strike or settlement process. While we can’t pretend this did not happen, we also can’t dwell on the process or details of everything that has happened. Our priorities are to get students back to the classroom as soon as possible. We recognize the importance of implementing activities to welcome staff back as well. 

The District will evaluate any savings. Classified staff have remained at work and been compensated.  Student learning time added to the calendar will result in additional pay for our classified staff.  A primary goal will be to recover some level of learning time for students, and this will be worked out with GAEA at settlement, with any calendar changes communicated to the public.

That is a good question and thanks for asking. The reason we find it difficult to agree with proposed threshold values is those numbers are lower than any other comparable district, the processes we have proposed around class size interventions are more than any other comparable district, and finally, language agreed upon within a contract is somewhat memorialized and could pose a financial liability to the District if State funding or enrollment decline.

The language the District has been proposing for quite some time utilizes both a District and Building-based class size committee to set transfer numbers, evaluate projected students in each building, and has guaranteed money ($500,000) to support intervention methods to keep class sizes lower in the primary grades. This language and commitment by the District is more than any other comparable district in the state. The District recognizes that smaller classes contribute to better outcomes with students, especially in the primary grades. That is why we have lowered our threshold numbers and put these strategies into the contract.

Yes, language has been added to increase staffing when class sizes go above the threshold numbers. Additionally, the District has agreed to commit $500,000 dollars per year to fund those strategies. The list of options include: Additional classified support hours, Blended classrooms; Reassignment of students within the building, Denial of transfers; Hiring of additional staff; Reassignment of teaching staff; and other options mutually agreeable between the educator(s) and the District.

The District reminds the community that since COVID, the total student population has continued to decline, although less severely than many other districts. Should we see our student population increase, we would naturally add staff. This would be outside of the appeal process, as a result of budgeting and staffing ratios.

The District has stated that the top end of the salary schedule, for our most experienced teachers, has fallen behind due to past contract agreements. Recognizing this, we have offered a 9% COLA increase at the top of the salary schedule with 7% at the base in year one. This offer in year one closes a big gap in compensation. Over the next two years of the contract, both our most experienced and newer teachers will be at a comparable salary to other districts of our size.

Yes. The GAEA agreed to prep time language and the change in high school prep time will not be implemented until the 25-26 school year.

The largest constriction on the budget for the 2023-25 funding biennium has been the large kicker refund which was based on the state collecting more revenue than projected in 2021-23. This meant that the State’s budget for the 23-25 biennium was a slight reduction from 21-23 levels.  The Governor has already agreed to a new calculation for the 2025-27 biennium with better funding at the outset. Both GAEA and the District will be working at the legislature this coming spring to improve funding for the 2025-27 biennium. 

The loss of COVID funds (ESSER) has not impacted our operational budget. GAPS did not use these funds to hire new staff members, but rather, used them to expand some programming to support students when returning after the pandemic, for capital improvement projects to heating and ventilation systems, and to purchase curriculum. As a result, the District has never factored these monies into the bargaining of this contract or the long-term financial stability of GAPS.

This number is confidential.

The District holds union and non-union members as confidential. The other questions here would best be answered by the union.

Students should have access to all learning apps and teacher Canvas pages through the Clever system. If they do not have access to these we will work with the Technology Department to make them available to students.

The School Board has been both involved and aware of all steps taken during the bargaining of this contract. One board member has been at almost every bargaining and mediation session as he is the official Board representative. Additionally, other Board members have stepped in at various times. Oftentimes there are two Board members present with the District team as they rotate through to keep abreast of the details.

We are working with a State-Appointed Mediator to resolve issues.

The District began in the fall of 2022 to identify several key elements in the budget picture. Here are a few steps:

1. The District worked from July 2022 to March 2023 to identify the true cash balance of the District. This took detailed research dating back to approximately January 2021.
2. Following the establishment of a cash balance, the District was able to file an official audit for 2021-22 in July 2023 which was six months late. The District was planning to finalize the 2023-24 audit by January 1, 2024, although the strike may delay this by up to one month. Otherwise the District is on schedule to finalize the audit each year.
3. The District discovered in June 2023 multiple contracts with service providers that were signed for by multiple staff and that were not in the budget. Their existence was discovered when the District received bills related to those contracts.  All contracts are now signed by either the Superintendent or the Business Manager.
4. The District has established and trained school office staff on internal control processes to ensure state purchasing and contract laws are followed. The District has established business services processes that ensure all expenditures are processed and tracked in a timely manner.  Both of these process changes have enabled the District to provide accurate and timely financial reports to the Superintendent and to the Board.  
5. The District has moved the various related funds (Student Investment Account, High School Success Account, Early Literacy, Federal Perkins Funds, IDEA (Special Education) into coordination and alignment to ensure the most efficient use of all funds within the District’s budget. These funds had been previously managed separately with little coordination.
6. Despite an underfunded biennium in 2023-25, the District was able to plan to provide the current COLA of 7% and 9%. This was accomplished by seeking efficiencies and cutting where necessary in order to build the additional ending fund balance to pay for the teacher increase this year. This was able to be accomplished through a strong understanding of the District’s financial position and how each fund could be used.

The District’s savings or proposed uses for such funds are undetermined at this time.

The 8% reserve is not considered a “rainy day fund”, but a required reserve fund by Board policy. The OEA typically recommends 5% as an ending fund balance, but do not typically partner with Districts in long-term financial plans. The 5% recommendation is typically communicated during contract bargaining.  8% is equal to approximately one month of expenditures. The District’s auditing firm recommends 3 months’ reserve, or 24%, but the District realizes this would be a very long-term goal.  In order to get the best financing for bonds and financing, Districts typically are expected to have 12% as an ending fund balance.  Currently, Board policy requires us to maintain an 8% reserve, which is enough to cover one month’s expenditures within the District. Additionally, 8% gives the District enough cushion to work through challenges, such as a reduction in State reimbursements, which has occurred the last two years.

The challenge, with accepting the GAEA proposal is the long term financial impact it could 

place on the District. Current threshold numbers being proposed by GAPS are lower than comparable districts, the commitment of $500,000 annually to address class size overage and the strategies proposed should more than address the class size issues. The District’s position is to guarantee relief strategies while maintaining fiscal stability.

There have been some significant philosophical differences in the language proposed between the GAEA and the District. Especially around Behavior, Prep Time, Professional Development, and Class Size. Additionally, the financial requests made by the GAEA for compensation, in addition to financial responsibilities within certain articles, would place the District in a vulnerable fiscal position long term. Many of the sticking points have been around language proposed by OEA (Oregon Education Association) and have been seen in bargains in other districts (Portland Public, Beaverton, Hillsboro, and Gresham Barlow). GAEA started the bargaining process by opening 34 of the 40 contract articles, all of which increased the amount of time required to reach agreement.

The grievance process has not changed within this contract. If the GAEA feels the contract has not been followed as written, they can engage in a process that has always been in place

GAPS has one dual immersion program school where elementary students learn in both Spanish and English. Bilingual programs are also offered at Calapooia Middle School, North Albany Middle School, and South Albany High School. Students who wish to take classes in Spanish can opt to attend these schools as they progress through the grades. Additionally, the district employs Spanish-speaking staff in schools to support and enhance students’ learning experiences.

When the District and GAEA have a tentative agreement on all open articles, a settlement agreement will be created.  This agreement will include how days of instruction may be made up.  The District has prepared several options for this part of the settlement.  They include but are not limited to; turning non-student contact days into instructional days, extending the school year, and replacing early-release Wednesdays. 

Information regarding college now and AP classes will be forthcoming from the High Schools once the strike is over. AP test dates are set nationally and cannot be changed however, as of now there have been only approximately four missed class periods of content. The schools will work with students in the coming weeks to find solutions for these classes.

The topic has been previously discussed, but redrawing boundaries can have a significant impact on the community. In evaluating the various factors related to class size during negotiations, the District has recognized the importance of proactively assessing the effects of student transfers across the district. As outlined in Article 18C, the District proposes the establishment of a class size committee at each school to determine which grade levels will be able to accommodate both inter- and intra-district transfers. This approach aims to streamline the transfer process and help maintain optimal class sizes, ensuring that they are not adversely impacted.

For two consecutive years, the district has reduced administrative staff positions, cancelled contracts, as well as other cost savings measures to help balance the budget and increase our ending fund balance, which would support a future salary increase for teachers. The goal is to provide teachers with a salary raise that is competitive with similar-sized school districts.  Teachers in the District have lost ground to inflation over the last three years, and the District believes it’s important to catch them up.

The district has several small elementary schools, and while maintaining these schools can lead to some inefficiencies, they remain a vital part of their communities. The size of our existing facilities limits our options to add additional classrooms in many of our schools. The district and GAEA have collaborated to create a class size process that aims to have a positive impact on elementary classrooms.

The district would need to pass a bond to secure sufficient funding for building additional schools. The previous bond provided funding for one new school and for additional classrooms at North Albany Elementary, Waverly Elementary, and South Shore Elementary. Currently, the district is not experiencing an increase in enrollment.

When the District and GAEA have a tentative agreement on all open articles, a settlement agreement will be created. This agreement will include how days of instruction may be made up. The District has prepared several options for this part of the settlement.  They include but are not limited to; turning non-student contact days into instructional days, extending the school year, and replacing early-release Wednesdays. 

Neither GAPS nor the GAEA has addressed the removal of instructional equipment during negotiations. However, the transfer policy has been a subject of discussion. The primary concern is to ensure that the transfer process supports schools in maintaining appropriate class sizes both within individual buildings and across the district as a whole.

With the one article remaining, and the current class sizes, the District believes that the time has come to reach an agreement and get kids back in school. The District Bargaining Team and the GAPS School Board stand ready to take swift action to ratify the contract. All that is waiting is the initialing of the remaining Articles. The District will communicate on Sunday to all parents where the bargaining stands.  The district will collaborate with the teachers to make up as many instructional days as possible. The strike could potentially have a negative impact on school funding.

The district’s student enrollment has decreased over the past three years, and at this time, boundary changes are not being pursued. Both GAEA and the district have agreed in concept to a $500,000 class size fund, although this Article is not yet agreed to.  For more details about how GAPS compares to like size school districts, please refer to the class size chart posted in previous communications.

Members of both the licensed bargaining team, GAEA, and the classified union, GA-ACE, were present at the budget meetings. These meetings are open to public comment. The district’s financial plan to use the 2023-2024 ending fund balance to support salary increases for GAEA was presented to the Board and Budget Committee by the Superintendent and Executive Director of Finance during the meetings.  Both the Board and the Budget Committee supported the plan to spend down over $4 million in one time funds to support a competitive financial package to GAEA.

According to RS2, a consulting firm, GAPS ranks 14th in size among all school districts in the state. The Superintendent’s total compensation is ranked 33rd compared to other Superintendent compensation packages.