A planned negotiating session between Park County teachers and representatives of the Park County RE-2 School District failed to materialize Saturday, potentially moving the district closer to a teachers strike.

If teachers walk out, it would be the second Colorado school district this year at which teachers have gone on strike over pay. 

The two sides had agreed to meet Saturday – a meeting proposed by the school district – to look at the district’s finances, but the Park County RE-2 Board of Trustees announced in a news release two days before that they would not attend Saturday’s session. Members of the South Park Education Association showed up anyway. 

According to a Monday news release from SPEA, the board backed out of the working session because SPEA members wanted to discuss salary, an issue that the board has said is not on the table.

In the news release, Board of Trustees President Kim Bundgaard said the district had made a comprehensive proposal to the teachers union that would include a “greatly enhanced disclosure and discussion procedure” to discuss financial documentation.

With regard to Saturday’s meeting, Bundgaard said, while the district and SPEA had agreed to meet, the insistence by SPEA that the district “bargain” salaries was unacceptable. 

The news release also addressed a lawsuit SPEA filed against the district that sought to extend a contract between teachers and the county that expired on June 30. A judge in the Park County District Court ruled against SPEA because the union had rejected the district’s offer. That decision is now on appeal, according to the Colorado Education Association.

The district has offered a “working meeting” on Sept. 19, although what will be discussed is unknown, according to SPEA.

SPEA members overwhelmingly authorized a strike on Sept. 4, and the Colorado Education Association filed a notice of intent to strike on behalf of SPEA with the state Department of Labor and Employment on Sept. 6

The board approved a 6.5% teacher salary increase, “plus an annual step [increase] that resulted in a 9.2% increase to base salary,” when it approved the 2019-20 budget June 30.

In a July 31 statement, the board said that “the district does not believe an additional raise – beyond what has already been provided for the 2019-2020 school year – is financially feasible or fiscally responsible.”

SPEA seeks a $6,000 across-the-board increase in teacher pay to cover the higher cost of living in Park County.

According to SPEA President Taya Mastrobuono, Saturday’s no-show was the third time the Park County Board of Education has cancelled a meeting, all meetings that the board scheduled.

“Obviously we’re disappointed,” Mastrobuono said. “The district likes to play the victim card but they are extremely financially sound. Many of our educators cannot afford to live in the community where they teach, while the district hordes taxpayer money and they don’t have the guts to explain why to taxpayers. It’s something we’re willing to do.”

SPEA members did discuss district finances on Saturday; SPEA Vice President Kiersten Macreery said that since 2008, the district has increased the unallocated reserve budget line to where it is today, which is 72%. 

Park County RE-2 enrolled 698 students in 2018-19.