Members of the Yelm Education Association (YEA) overwhelmingly voted Tuesday, Aug. 27 to approve a strike if no ratified tentative agreement with Yelm Community Schools (YCS) is reached.
The motion passed with 97.5% in support — 197 voted in favor while five voted against — of the strike, which would begin on the first day of school on Tuesday, Sept. 3 should a contract settlement not be reached. The district’s collective bargaining agreement with YEA is set to expire on Aug. 31. YEA and YCS are working with a state-appointed mediator as negotiations continue.
YEA held a general membership meeting Tuesday night that had been scheduled at the beginning of the summer in hopes that it would be a ratification meeting. After the YEA bargaining team presented its latest proposal to the district Monday, representatives of the district left to work on their counter. Over two hours later, the mediator returned and said the district would not be able to respond that night.
According to YEA, YCS administrators have refused to offer educators a fair deal, one that would secure competitive compensation for Yelm educators and equitable class sizes.
The district’s proposals, according to YEA officials, include cutting daily planning time for elementary teachers, eliminating overload payments, refusing to put any limits on special education and counseling caseloads, eliminating counselor positions, refusing to pass through state-funded salary increases, and refusing to ensure emergency call buttons are in every classroom.
“We want our students to be successful so we need to have manageable class sizes and time to work with students to provide a quality education,” Kathryn Cullum, YEA co-president and middle school teacher, said in a news release. “Our community expects our district to keep high quality educators and attract new ones. In order to do so, we need a fair contract that prioritizes student success.”
Cullum told the Nisqually Valley News Wednesday, Aug. 28, that one of the biggest sticking points in negotiations is that the district is not giving teachers a state-allocated 6% salary increase as part of the regionalization factor. The state legislature reviews state basic education compensation allocations every four years based on assessed property values within and in the area 15 miles immediately surrounding district boundaries.
“A portion of that would go to the teachers, and we’re not being given that amount. We are losing teachers and staff to surrounding districts,” Cullum said. “When you’re trying to attract and retain people, you’ve got to be competitive with your surrounding districts. We are not. We are at the bottom of our comparables. When you tell people it’s worth being here but then we don’t show them that we value them, then that’s frustrating.”
Ballooning caseloads for counselors are another primary concern for YEA members. Cullum said the district had 20 counselors employed but now has just 11 after budget cuts. She added that one counselor was previously working at one elementary building but will now split her time between two and has over 800 students on her caseload.
“In elementary school, it is not supposed to be those numbers. They were drowning already before,” Cullum said. “Before we came to the bargaining table this year, we already were asking how we can provide some relief to our counselors. When you have the number of mental health referrals going from 50 to 700 in a few short years, they’re the ones managing that. So the district is cutting those positions and being unwilling to meet us on caseload language. They’re just saying no.”
Cullum said YEA disagrees with the district’s ideology on its cuts and for the 6% salary increase. She added that the “money is there” to compensate counselors and special education teachers fairly while keeping class sizes reasonable and manageable.
“We believe that the numbers we have are based on state-reported numbers and that this is what 6% looks like across the board. They have a disagreement on that. They have a different calculation,” she said. “They have not shown us how they have come to their calculation, but they have a different number. We know that there’s been a double-levy failure, but 80% of the levy shortage has already been covered by the cuts that they’ve made through staffing cuts out of our bargaining unit.
“Counselors are not enrichment. Special education teachers and class sizes are not enrichment,” Cullum continued. “They’re cutting basic education and saying it’s because of the double-levy failure. We have yet to see the numbers that support the cuts that they’re making.”
Lastly, Cullum said the district is unwilling to use $29 million in available capital project funds to ensure that there is an emergency button in every classroom and that teachers have asked for training on alternative emergency technology.
“They’re just like, ‘No, the phones will do it.’ They’ve never taught us that, and we keep asking them to teach us that,” she said. “They’ve yet to show us how it works. They said we got a PDF that shows how to do it, and we’ve read the PDF and there’s nothing about it. We’re expected to get somehow across the room to a phone to dial, whereas I could tell a kindergartener if I’m in a situation to push the button. That’s not going to work if you have only a phone.”
YCS Superintendent Chris Woods released statements to Yelm families and staff Wednesday, Aug. 28 regarding the potential strike. In his statement to families, he offered support for teachers and expressed his desire to reach an agreement quickly.
“We fully recognize how deeply this affects our students and families, and we share your concerns about the potential delay to the school year,” Woods wrote. “We are committed to working diligently to find a resolution that respects the needs and concerns of our teachers while also ensuring that our students receive the quality education they deserve.
“We want to assure you that the district remains focused on reaching an agreement as quickly as possible. We value our teachers and understand their vital role in the success of our students, and we are striving to find common ground that benefits everyone involved,” he continued.
Cullum disagreed with Woods’ statement that the district is working quickly to come to an agreement.
“I genuinely was stunned by the statement when the opposite is what’s happening. The mediator told us on their behalf that they were too busy to meet because they’re in meetings,” she said. “That does not show every effort to get this done as quickly as possible.”
Woods said that the district will keep families informed by 5 p.m. daily as the situation evolves and encourages families to “begin considering alternative plans” in the event of a delayed start to the school year due to a strike.
In his message to staff, he expressed similar support for educators throughout the district, including the 350 certificated educators within YEA.
“We understand that this situation brings uncertainty, and we want you to know that your well-being and the work you do are deeply valued by our entire district,” Woods wrote. “We recognize that the potential strike may raise concerns for you both professionally and personally. Please rest assured that we are here to support you every step of the way. Our priority is to ensure that you have the information you need to navigate this situation with as much clarity and confidence as possible.”
Two leading advocates for students and parents from the Center for American Rights and Washington Policy Center sent YCS and YEA a letter Thursday, Aug. 29, reminding them that teacher strikes are “unequivocally” illegal under Washington state law. The letter cites RCW 41.56.120, which reads “Nothing contained in this chapter shall permit or grant any public employee the right to strike or refuse to perform his or her official duties.”
The letter was co-written and signed by Daniel Suhr, president of the Center for American Rights, and Liv Finne, director of the Center for Education at the Washington Policy Center, and it emphasized that students and parents have a right to expect the law will be obeyed by the union and enforced by the school district.
According to the letter, YCS could immediately proceed to court to secure an injunction against the imminent, threatened strike. Suhr and Finne cite a 2024 Clallam County Superior Court case in which the court issued a temporary restraining order against an educator strike in Port Angeles.
Cullum said the YEA team is now focused on, should there not be a tentative agreement, training people for a potential strike and how to do it “legally and safely” and added that the bargaining team continues to be ready to meet at the table. While a potential strike may delay the start of the school year, students would still get their full 180 days of education and would have those days made up.
“The hardest part about last night’s meeting was that no one wanted to vote yes. We came prepared to vote yes, and some people came prepared to vote no and changed their minds as they heard things outside of their bubble,” Cullum said. “It was the hardest decision for every single person in that room. There was no one who made that decision lightly. I love what one of our members said: ‘If we don’t show our students how to stand up for them, how are they going to learn how to stand up for themselves?’”
This story will be updated as more information becomes available. YCS declined to provide additional comments at this time.
