Critics said the school district is using taxpayer money for union-busting
The Washoe County School District Board of Trustees yesterday voted to take the district’s administrative professionals union to the Nevada Supreme Court. The dispute is over back pay owed to principals and other administrators who say they have not been compensated according to their contracts with the district.
The back pay goes back to July 1, 2021, and remains unpaid to about 230 administrators who have worked over normal hours but have yet to be compensated, the group argued.
A grievance was filed based on contract language that requires WCSD administrators to work after normal hours, such as when schools have to be opened for wildfire evacuations, sports games and other activities, and to be compensated for their time.
“We have concerns over the fact that our district is using their legal fees to take their bargaining units into court after an arbitrator has already ruled on this.”
“When a wildfire threatens our community, and our community needs a safe place to go, we are the first ones called,” school Principal Michael Gifford said during public comment. “It doesn’t matter the day or time, but when a bill comes due on a contract, a contract that was agreed upon by our school district almost three years ago, we are not called.
“It sounds like we’re calling the Supreme Court or at least thinking about it,” he added. “And that does not show us value. We are arguing to see if we’re going to [give] our community’s money to attorneys to fight against us. That’s not value.”
The dispute went to arbitration, and an arbitrator ruled in the union’s favor. School attorney Neil Rombardo appealed the arbitrator’s decision to Washoe County Second Judicial District Court. Judge Connie Steinheimer upheld the arbitrator’s decision.
The school board, without discussion, voted to appeal the case to the Nevada Court of Appeals. No trustees pulled the item for discussion. Since it was part of a consent agenda—where agenda items are lumped together for a single vote—there was no discussion about the lawsuit. The board unanimously approved the consent agenda.
Calen Evans with the Washoe Education Association, which does not represent the principals’ union, urged the school board to consider the optics of the board’s decision.
“If you’re looking at this objectively, somebody could [say this decision is] very typical union-busting practices,” he said. “We have concerns over the fact that our district is using their legal fees to take their bargaining units into court after an arbitrator has already ruled on this.”
School officials did not provide a comment on the situation.
