Negotiations between Denver Public Schools and the district’s union for office professionals will restart Monday after stalling earlier this summer.
The two sides began talks in March on a new contract since the current one expires later this month. The Denver Association of Educational Office Professionals declared an impasse in contract negotiations in June after the union and DPS officials failed to reach an agreement on raises, said President Alexis Matter.
“We did not believe that the district was bargaining with us in a way that would lead to meaningful discussions anymore,” she said.“… Obviously, we need to come back to the table and get where the sticking point is for the district.”
The impasse — which is prompting the involvement of a mediator when talks resume — is notable because it’s an example of how the financial uncertainty facing K-12 school districts is trickling down to their negotiations with employee unions.
Metro Denver districts are handing out smaller raises this year as enrollment continues to fall, the state has projected a budget shortfall and the Trump administration has threatened to pull federal funding.
DPS’ largest union, the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, reached a tentative agreement with the district in June for educators to receive modest raises.
But similar to what is happening now with the Association of Educational Office Professionals, the deal was announced after DPS declared an impasse and brought in a mediator for the talks.
“Denver Public Schools believes that the parties can work together to reach an agreement. In order to keep that vision, we look forward to continuing our bargaining through the mediation process,” district spokesman Scott Pribble said in a statement.
The AEOP, which represents more than 300 employees, is one of 10 unions in DPS. The union represents librarian technicians, accountants, payroll technicians, buyers and other office staff, many of whom work in schools, Matter said.
Salaries for office professionals range between $22 per hour and $31.89 per hour. The union has proposed increasing the hourly rates to a range of $25.75 to $36.85, Matter said, with the higher rate going up 15.6%.
“We were trying to come up and meet some of the other districts in our area,” she said, noting that the raises proposed would still be below Denver’s cost of living.
DPS has offered a 1% cost-of-living increase. When paired with the annual raises employees receive when they gain more experience, the increase averages out to 2.6%, Pribble said.
The union and DPS have disagreed on some other union proposals, Matter said, including adding raises for earning higher-level degrees and adding professional development days.
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