Bargaining Team Elections Begin!
We are excited to announce the start of bargaining team elections! As always, we are aiming to maximize participation, so please read below for logistical details.
Election Logistics
Each site will have a representative on the bargaining team. You may vote for one of the nominated candidates or you may write-in another candidate from your site.
Elections start Thursday, March 28. If your site is hosting elections this Thursday, the election coordinator will have paper ballots in their room. Please vote by the end of the day!
We will extend the election window to April 12 for sites that need a little more time to coordinate. The election coordinator for your site will schedule a date and communicate with your site team.
To ensure impartiality, all election coordinators have confirmed that they do not wish to be on the ballot.
While each site had multiple nominees, some sites do not currently have anyone who has accepted the nomination. Please use unitesummitteachers@gmail.com to nominate someone if your site is still lacking in nominees (you may nominate yourself, if you wish).
| Summit Rainier: Nominees: Isela Mosqueira, Spanish Election Date: Thurs. March 28 Election Coordinator: Hannah Creutzfeldt | Summit Prep: Nominees: Dan McClure, Science Election Date: Thurs. April 11 Election Coordinator: |
| Summit Tahoma: Nominees: Election Date: TBD Election Coordinator: Steven Covelman | Everest: Nominees: Evan Anderson, Science Election Date: Thurs. March 28 Election Coordinators: Jenny Macho & Jess Sacksteder |
| Denali Middle School: Nominees: Election Date: TBD Election Coordinator: Jen Auten | Tam Middle School: Nominees: Fahima Zaman, Science; Matthew Ploch, Expeditions Election Date: Thurs. March 28 Election Coordinator: Angela Wentworth |
| Denali High School: Nominees: Andrew Stevenson, Science; Sarah Ragey, English Election Date: Thurs. March 28 Election Coordinator: Sarah Rivas | Tam High School: Nominees: Election Date: TBD Election Coordinator: Angela Wentworth |
| Expeditions: Nominees: Liz DeOrnellas, Journalism Election Date: Thurs. March 28 Election Coordinators: Keith Brown (South Loop); Bea Daily (North Loop) | K2 Middle School: Nominees: Haley Ralph (Holt), History Election Date: Thurs. March 28 Election Coordinator: Davida Lopez |
| Shasta: Nominees: Election Date: TBD Election Coordinator: Sarah Day Dayon | K2 High School: Nominees: Brendan Boland, English Election Date: Thurs. March 28 Election Coordinator: Eric Jones |
Elected bargaining team members will attend bargaining meetings with Summit Public Schools representatives once the contract negotiation process begins.
We are also looking for volunteers to join each site’s Contract Action Team. Members of that team will help the bargaining team representative by collecting input as needed throughout the bargaining process and will work to make sure all teachers at that site are fully informed as bargaining progresses. Please reach out to your site organizers if you’re interested in that role!
What happens after elections?
Once members of the bargaining team are elected, their first job will be to generate what is called a “Sunshine Proposal.” This is a requirement under the law that our union shares at a Summit Board meeting all of the topics we plan on negotiating. The Sunshine Proposal will be created by our bargaining team based on the results of the bargaining survey and the comments from the bargaining input meetings.
When does bargaining start?
Before we begin bargaining, we have to be officially recognized as the union.
In late January, we filed a petition with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), a government agency in California that oversees teacher unions.
PERB update:
Summit sent a list of its employees to PERB so that PERB could compare that list with the list of signatures we collected in support of our union. While we had only filed to form a union of teachers and residents at SPS California schools and Expeditions, Summit administration submitted a list with over ninety extra people, most of whom work in the Home Office or for Summit Learning and are not student-facing. PERB is now going through the process of determining if we have majority support with this greatly expanded list.
Summit’s tactics may result in some legal delays, but we are confident that our teachers are united in our desire to form a union and make Summit better for our students. We are continuing with our plans to prepare for contract negotiations so that we can be ready to bargain as soon as the legal issues are resolved.