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Pasco teachers, district reach quick deal on evaluations

The same subject held up negotiations nearly eight months in 2018-19.
 
Pasco school district employee relations director Kathy Scalise presents a contract offer during negotiations in October 2018. The sides arrived at impasse two months later. [Jeffrey S. Solochek | Times]
Pasco school district employee relations director Kathy Scalise presents a contract offer during negotiations in October 2018. The sides arrived at impasse two months later. [Jeffrey S. Solochek | Times]
Published July 25, 2019

For the first time since state lawmakers changed teacher evaluation laws in 2011, the Pasco County teachers union and district administration have reached an accord on how to handle evaluations before the faculty returns from summer break.

A year ago, by contrast, the debate over performance reviews proved more of a stumbling block to a contract deal than did salaries and benefits. The sides ultimately arrived at an agreement only after nearly eight months of talks and a round of federal mediation.

This time out, the sides finished up the issue in just one sitting, at their fourth bargaining session of the 2019-20 contract year.

“It’s that big a deal,” said Don Peace, United School Employees of Pasco president.

Two years ago, the sides revived an evaluation work group to establish clear guidelines of how evaluations would take place.

District officials attempted to keep the resulting document out of the contract during last year’s negotiations, suggesting the details could be changed at management’s discretion and without bargaining. Union leaders, meanwhile, sought to keep all the terms of evaluations in the contract and open to annual review.

The newly minted deal finds a middle ground between the two extremes.

They agreed to refer to the guidelines in the contract, and to have the working group review its terms and outcomes annually for possible changes that would be open to bargaining. At the same time, the guidelines are not part of the contract, but they are to be delivered to all teachers and administrators so they have a clear understanding of exactly what is expected.

“We’ve systematized it and, more importantly, made it more transparent for everyone,” said Kathy Scalise, district employee relations director.

She stressed that the administration wants to have a system that helps, not penalizes, teachers who get low marks. And the target should not be moving every year, she added.

“We do agree this should not be a process that undergoes multiple changes year after year,” Scalise said.

Peace predicted that the changes, which would still require ratification by the teachers and the School Board, would ease tensions in negotiations over the previously hotly disputed topic.

“We’ve finally come to a point where we were able to put this into contract language, and hopefully end the annual six-month, eight-month discussion on teacher evaluations,” he said. “This is going to be better for administrators and teachers.”

The sides still have several other issues to haggle over during negotiations, including raises. Both Peace and Scalise said they were hopeful that, with one of the most contentious issues now resolved, the rest of the conversations would go quickly and smoothly.

The next negotiating session has not been scheduled. Teachers return to work in just over a week.

Related: Pasco school district, union reach deal over teacher evaluations (2012)