Unions and D21 Confront Clerical Error in Tentative Agreement; grievance filed
Teachers and support staff rally earlier this during bargaining between D21 and Unions. Photo: Ken Park
By Ken Park
The Dalles, Ore., July 10, 2024 — The District 21 Education Association (D21EA) and North Wasco Educational Support Professionals (NWESP) issued a joint statement on July 3 regarding a clerical error discovered in their tentative bargaining agreement with North Wasco School District for the 2024-2025 school year.
After several weeks of negotiations, the unions and the district had reached a tentative agreement on June 12. However, School District Chief Financial Officer Randy Anderson uncovered an error concerning employee dental and vision insurance.
“On Thursday, June 13, while the district team was working through the preparation of the tentative agreement for implementation (once ratified and approved by the school board), they discovered that the agreed upon contractual language as it relates to monthly premium costs of dental and vision insurance for the 2023/2024 school year had not been implemented correctly, thus resulting in a contractual violation,” read the joint press release.
Upon discovering the error, the district contacted Alan Moore, the union representative for both D21EA and NWESP, to discuss the issue and potential solutions. Subsequently, the unions each filed a grievance with the district on June 21, leading to a grievance hearing on June 28.
The hearing revealed several key facts:
- Each employee who chose to purchase medical plans, including dental and vision, through the district has been fully insured based on their selections for the 2023/2024 school year, with the district covering the full cost.
- The contractual monthly premium cost share for select dental and vision plans for the 2023/2024 school year was not implemented correctly, resulting in overpayments by some employees.
- Impacted employees and the amount of their individual overpayments have been identified, and affected employees will be notified by their union.
The district proposed reimbursing each impacted employee for the incorrectly withheld insurance premiums.
The reimbursements will be issued in August once all staff insurance payments for the year are finalized.
“There has been an error in the amounts that some, but not all, members had deducted out of their pay for their monthly insurance premium for this 2023/2024 school year,” said D21EA President Jodi Ketchum. “This mainly affected those who ‘purchased up’ and selected plans at a different level than the base $7.50 per month plan.”
During bargaining, the district proposed raising the rate to $45 per month but ultimately agreed to keep it at $7.50.
D21EA President Jodi Ketchum
“This initial issue has been mainly resolved between district administration and union leadership after a grievance was pursued,” Ketchum said. “There is an agreement to rectify this situation as soon as possible as the estimated amount of this error is thought to be near $200,000.”
However, using Health Reimbursement Agreements (HRA) funds to cover the reimbursement presents a new challenge.
“The cost of what was proposed for insurance for the 2024/2025 school year was figured using 2023/2024 data causing a new problem with the change in automatic estimate of billing happening next year, the district is looking at increased costs trying to cover this problem,” Ketchum explained. “If they repay these overpayments back to staff through the HRA account funds, it depletes it substantially.”
Addressing both issues could cost over $500,000.
The district has yet to present formal proposals for a solution without using HRA funds. Possible options include:
- Paying more in premiums
- Raising the $300 deductible to $1,000
- Keeping premiums where they are and opting for a less desirable health plan
Ketchum emphasized that the unions now face a critical choice: move forward with the tentative agreement or reopen bargaining.
More information about bargaining and the agreement is expected later this week. CCCNews will provide that information when it becomes avaialble.
Support Local News
Available to everyone. Funded by readers.
