Shawnee Mission district fights state decision voiding 3-year teacher union contract
The Shawnee Mission school district is appealing a decision from the Kansas Department of Labor, which ruled the district committed a “prohibited practice” when it imposed a rare three-year unilateral contract on the teachers union.
In filing the appeal in Johnson County District Court, the district argued the labor department “committed numerous, highly problematic errors” in reaching its decision, calling its procedure unconstitutional.
District spokesman David Smith said the appeal will not impact this year’s teacher contract or upcoming negotiations this spring — which will likely take place remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic and metrowide stay at home order. But the court could clear the district of the prohibited practice charge.
The Shawnee Mission school board on Jan. 30 voted to impose a three-year unilateral contract, following several months of negotiations that failed. The National Education Association-Shawnee Mission challenged the legality of the contract, and in February, the Kansas Department of Labor sided with the teachers.
The department decided the district did not have the authority to issue such a long-term contract, saying it was denying the union its right to negotiate terms for the coming school years. The ruling made the last two years of the contract unenforceable.
On the heels of that ruling, the district and union — with the help of a federal mediator — finally reached a contract agreement for the current school year. After nearly one year of tense talks, that means the two parties will return to the negotiating table this spring to discuss a contract for the upcoming 2020-21 year.
“(The union) believes the Kansas Department of Labor ruled correctly,” said Linda Sieck, president of the teachers union. “With that said, it is the district’s right to appeal, although it will have no impact on our recently negotiated agreement for 2019-20.”
The district is asking the court to vacate the labor department’s decision that ruled it committed a prohibited practice.
Shawnee Mission district’s appeals
Shortly after the school board imposed the three-year unilateral contract, the teachers union filed an emergency prohibitive practice complaint with the labor department.
The union requested an immediate review, because teachers had limited time to decide whether to accept the contract.
In the appeal, the district argued the labor department committed several errors in reaching its decision, acted beyond its jurisdiction and failed to follow the requirements for emergency proceedings.
“The Kansas Department of Labor found that the district had engaged in a prohibited practice without holding a hearing or considering any evidence,” Smith said in an email to The Star. “Under Kansas law (specifically the Negotiations Act and the Administrative Procedure Act), a finding that a school district has committed a ‘willful’ prohibited practice must be based on actual evidence and facts, and not just on allegations in a complaint filed by a union.”
The district argued that the labor department should not have based its decision partly on comments made by school board members after the negotiations process had concluded. Board members were quoted defending the long-term unilateral contract and saying the district needed to focus energy back on its students.
In its February ruling, the labor department stated the board’s comments showed “they considered contract negotiations an impediment to more important efforts.”
It said the district’s “attempt to unilaterally impose the three-year contract was a deliberate attempt to remove the perceived impediment of subsequent annual contract negotiations.”
“Rather than relying on evidence, (the labor department) relied solely on excerpted, reprinted statements that individual board members made after the negotiations process had concluded, which did not suggest in any manner that the board was not willing to negotiate with (the union),” Smith said. “Further, this amounted to punishment of individual board members’ speech and violated their First Amendment rights.”
Smith also argued it was “entirely improper” for the labor department to rule the district had committed a prohibited practice, “given that there is no Kansas case law or statute prohibiting districts from approving multi-year unilateral agreements.”
Most often, unilateral contracts are put in place for one year. The three-year unilateral contract was unprecedented, Sieck said.
Negotiations to begin
Amid months of unsuccessful contract talks, this past year was shrouded by school board meetings packed with angry teachers, student walkouts and even a teacher resigning in front of the board.
It took the help of a federal mediator to decide on a contract for this school year, which was agreed upon in early March.
After a difficult year of negotiations, the district and union are poised to begin another round of contract talks, but this time during the coronavirus pandemic and school facility closures.
Compensation increases and adjustments to teacher workload were two of the biggest sticking points. Teachers have been pushing for lighter workloads, as many secondary teachers instruct six out of seven periods each day, compared to five out of seven in neighboring districts. They say they need more time for planning, advising students and grading papers.
Largely, the contract talks focused on how the district will spend roughly $9.6 million in restored state funding. But no one has commented on how the coronavirus pandemic, and its threat to local revenue streams, will impact the district’s budgeting process.
The school district and union have agreed to hold negotiations throughout May and June, with the goal of reaching an agreement prior to July 1, Smith said. Officials are planning for virtual contract talks, in the event that the metrowide stay at home order is extended past next week.
