Henrico School Board divided about whether to pursue collective bargaining

For the first time publicly, members of the Henrico School Board discussed their thoughts on implementing collective bargaining for Henrico Schools employees, with some members expressing concerns that the initiative would come with negative consequences.

At a meeting Sept. 26, HCPS Chief of Staff Holly Coy presented the board with more than 440 pages of information about how collective bargaining works in other Virginia school divisions, feedback from some HCPS staff, and research on how collective bargaining could impact the district. School board chair Alicia Atkins (Varina District) had requested information about collective bargaining back in May.

HCPS officials contacted all 11 Virginia school divisions that have implemented collective bargaining resolutions, but Coy said that “outstanding questions” remain on how collective bargaining would work in Henrico, since no other locality has a school system tied to both a county manager and a board of supervisors.

Virginia school divisions only have had the option to pursue collective bargaining since 2021. With the initiative being so recently implemented, many of the impacts of collective bargaining – on student performance, teacher retention, and more – remain unknown in Virginia, said school board member Kristi Kinsella (Brookland District).

“Some of my concerns relate to who and what would be impacted if our structure changes – compensation, incentive, benefits, buying power – would they change for better or worse? We don’t really know,” Kinsella said. “And would employee jobs be at risk?”

Another concern was extra budget costs. While some Virginia school divisions were able to absorb the costs of implementing collective bargaining, Loudoun County Public Schools spent an additional $3.3 million to hire legal counsel and more human resources staff for contract negotiations, school board vice-chair Marcie Shea (Tuckahoe District) said.

“I want to be investing our extra millions into things like planning time and things that are going to really change boots on the ground for our teachers and our staff in the building and our students,” Shea said. “I’m concerned about freezing progress for our division as we go down this path.”

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Many HCPS staff, some of whom are members of the Henrico Education Association – the self-described labor union that represents HCPS educators – have publicly advocated for collective bargaining since November of 2023. The HEA has also collected signatures from more than 1,000 staff members on authorization cards, which support implementing collective bargaining with the HEA as the negotiating party.

But Shea said that even with more than 1,000 supporters, that number still represents only 12% of all HCPS staff. HEA leaders declined to share their membership numbers when she reached out to them, Shea said.

“While there has certainly been notable interest for us to dig into this opportunity, there does not seem to be an overwhelming appetite for systemic change,” Shea said. “So I have concern about making a systemic change that impacts all structures of how our division is to be run for what appears at this time to be a small minority.”

HCPS also launched an employee engagement survey this past summer, open for three weeks from late July until mid-August, for all staff members to have the ability to provide feedback on working conditions, compensation, and other topics. The survey did not directly ask employees about their opinions on collective bargaining.

However, only 26% of staff ended up participating in the survey, which Shea said is a sign that collective bargaining is not a huge priority for most HCPS staff.

“What I infer from that as a board member is that this isn’t something that is of top concern for most staff at this time,” Shea said. “I feel like if it was, then we would have had a much higher take rate on the survey.”

School board member Madison Irving (Three Chopt District), however, said that fewer employees may have participated in the survey not because they aren’t interested in the topic but because the survey was launched a few weeks before the start of school, during a time when teachers may have had other more pressing responsibilities.

“I have the opposite view, I think it is speculative to say that people didn’t fill it out because they’re happy with their situation,” Irving said. “It would probably not be wise to make one decision one way or another based off of a survey with that low of a response rate.”

About 80% of survey respondents said they were satisfied with the level of staff engagement in the division and 64% said that they felt their ideas had influence on decisions within their school or department. However, only 33% said that they felt their ideas had impact at a divisional level, showing some disconnect between school-based staff and higher-level decision making, Irving said.

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Irving, who along with board member Ryan Young (Fairfield District) had expressed support for collective bargaining last fall while campaigning for school board, said that a collective bargaining resolution would give HCPS employees more of a voice in their contracts. Irving also emphasized that collective bargaining would not force employees to join a union or participate in negotiations.

“They’re not forced to do anything under this. I think that’s important because, for me, fundamentally this is just about giving our employees a choice,” Irving said. “If we value our employees and we’re asking the question, ‘Do they want this or not?’ The best way to let us know is for them to choose.”

Irving, who is also a teacher at James River High School in Chesterfield, highlighted some of the potential benefits of collective bargaining laid out in HCPS’ research report.

“I saw that collective bargaining improves student achievement, especially our low-income Black and brown students, that it improves teacher retention rates, especially for new teachers,” Irving said. “And it also seems to correspond with higher teacher pay, which as a teacher myself, that’s always a great thing.”

Shea, however, emphasized that the research report also includes some potential consequences of collective bargaining on student achievement and resource allocation.

“My colleague shared some information…but there’s also two negatives that were not shared under the same bullet, which says, ‘The interests of unions and students do not always align, which may depress student achievement,’” Shea said. “As well as, ‘Unions strive to improve member benefits, which may draw resources away from more effective strategies.’”

Both Shea and Kinsella also said that HCPS already has several feedback mechanisms in place for staff, including staff advisory groups and annual surveys, and that both the school board and HCPS leadership remain accessible and responsive.

“We receive feedback all the time, we have annual climate surveys, and there’s also a history of Henrico, if you want to see what’s changed over time and how we continue to pursue excellence,” Kinsella said. “And that doesn’t mean we don’t have room to grow and change, please know that.”

Kinsella also suggested to HCPS Superintendent Amy Cashwell that staff concerns and issues with contracts, including issues with compensation and responsibilities, could be addressed without collective bargaining and without the need for negotiations.

At a monthly meeting later that day, Elizabeth Broda, the co-chair of the HEA’s collective bargaining committee and a teacher at Henrico High School, thanked the school board and the HCPS staff who worked on the research report.

“The information gathered will be vital as we venture forward in this process and the board is taking this seriously and working carefully and patiently,” Broda said. “The HEA looks forward to being involved in future conversations about collective bargaining and how it will benefit students and staff across the county.”

School board chair Atkins also said that board members would continue to discuss collective bargaining and the research conducted in the report.

“We’re going to spend a lot of time in it, I guarantee that,” Atkins said. “And we’re going to come back and we’re going to figure this out.”

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Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s Report for America Corps member and education reporter. Her position is dependent upon reader support; make a tax-deductible contribution to the Citizen through RFA here.