Angry Riverside Parents Want Contract Disputes Settled

Relations between the Riverside School District and its two employees unions have disintegrated into a mud-slinging power struggle.

Angry teachers have given Superintendent Jerry Wilson a vote of no confidence. The union representing bus drivers alleged violations of the state Open Meetings Act in their fight against a district proposal to subcontract bus services.

Negotiations with both unions fractured last month, leaving all employees in the rural north Spokane County school district working under expired contracts.

Now parents are riled up, angry that special, after-school programs such as an art festival and running club are cancelled by teachers refusing to work extra hours.

“If this school board were a human being, some one would lock it away as self-destructive,” said Steve Nicols, president of the teachers’ Riverside Education Association.

“You can take on the teachers union, or take on the bus drivers union, or take on the public, but no one in their right mind wants to take on all three at once.”

“I’m about ready to pull my kid out and home school,” said Chad Chamberlin, parent of a third grade Chattaroy Elementary student.

Jerry Wilson, superintendent of the district for the last 17 years, said the union game of hard ball won’t work. “We’re not going to be blackmailed into that type of thing,” he said.

The bus subcontracting issue is causing the most stir, filtering down to chit-chat over produce at the Riverside Family Foods, the area’s only supermarket.

Handing bus keys to a private contractor like Laidlaw could save the strapped district several hundred thousand dollars, Wilson said.

Current drivers would be guaranteed no drop in pay, and would be given first preference in job openings, said Wilson.

Jean Moffat, PSE regional representative, said she hasn’t seen that offer in any propsals. “And he doesn’t have any authority to guarantee that,” said Moffat.

PSE officials have said subcontracting could jeopardize students’ lives, as inexperienced drivers scoot along the winding, sometimes icy back country roads. Riverside’s buses racked up more miles last year than any other in the area.

But they’ve alleged that Wilson cut off public comment in a Jan. 7 special board meeting called to hear opinions. A local newspaper was not notified, an oversight Wilson said would be remedied in the future.

At another meeting called to hear public testimony, a district consultant read a 150-page study, page by page for hours while audience members waited. The meeting adjourned after 1 a.m.

The school board has not made a decision yet, said board member Larry Frowick. “It’s not just a financial issue. You’ve got to consider the families needs.”

The two sides will meet Jan. 27 with a mediator.

Differences with the teachers union are hazier. Both Wilson and Nicols say the main sticking point - teacher preparation time in an elementary school - is small.

Wilson attributes the negotiation collapse to money.

But Nicols notes that Wilson is one of the highest paid superintendents in the area, earning almost $20,000 more than the superintendent of the East Valley School District, twice as large as Riverside.

A parent group has formed to pressure the school to resolve impasses with both unions. “The kids are becoming aware of this,” said Tricia Blair, mother of a kindergartner.

, DataTimes