Henrico Schools staffers make another push for collective bargaining

HCPS staff members submitted more than 200 comments in support of collective bargaining that filled most of the 43 pages of the school board’s March 14 online public forum. School staffers and supporters of the Henrico Education Association, the labor union that represents HCPS educators, also submitted almost 200 comments at the board’s Feb. 22 meeting.

Elizabeth Broda, a HEA leader and Henrico High teacher, said that HCPS employees will continue to speak out on collective bargaining at future school board online and in-person forums.

“We are pleased but not surprised that so many staff members responded to our call for public comment,” she said. “It shows the dire need for contract negotiations across all county positions.”

The school board did not address the comments at either the March 14 or Feb. 22 meetings, which is the board’s policy when it comes to public forums, according to HCPS Communications Director Eileen Cox.

However, Broda said that she and other HEA leaders have had ongoing private conversations with each of the school board members. While no decisions have been made yet, both Three Chopt District member Madison Irving and Fairfield District member Ryan Young have publicly stated they would support a school board resolution to allow collective bargaining and board chair Alicia Atkins has said she would consider a resolution.

“Mr. Irving and Mr. Young are on record of supporting collective bargaining rights for HCPS staff. We are grateful for their support and see them as allies in this process,” Broda said. “Chair Atkins has been open to conversations and treats our cause with respect and interest.”

Although school board members cannot officially have partisan affiliations, Atkins, Irving and Young all campaigned alongside Henrico Democrats this past November. Democratic representatives at the state level have recently and historically pushed for more pro-union legislation in Virginia, and the Richmond School Board (whose members also include a majority of Democratic-leaning members) was the first school division in the state to pass collective bargaining.

Many HCPS staffers wrote that collective bargaining could significantly help with the division’s staff shortages among teachers, IAs, counselors, and other roles.

“If Henrico truly wants to be a leader in education and attract or keep the best teachers, when there are serious shortages plaguing the county, they need to allow their staff to have a say in their own contract negotiations,” Mark Tertocha, a teacher at Hungary Creek Middle, wrote. “Anything less shows a serious disrespect for their hardworking employees and will certainly lead to more teachers leaving.”

Henrico Schools currently has 358 teacher vacancies as well as other vacancies among school bus drivers and other school positions, according to Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas, who proposed a 4.8% pay raise for eligible county employees and an additional one-step pay raise for teachers and bus drivers in his March 12 budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2024-25.

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Many HCPS staff members have left the school division due to frustrations about working conditions and pay – and their inability to voice these concerns before being given their contracts – according to Glen Allen High librarian Nikki DeMarco.

“It's more crucial than ever to include teachers and staff on contract negotiations because good teachers are leaving teaching altogether,” she wrote. “Some colleagues of mine have left without having another job lined up because the working conditions are untenable, especially for the pay.”

Issues such as large class sizes, overwhelming Individualized Education Program caseloads, a lack of staff autonomy, and “ineffective or unsupportive” administration have been driving people out of the school division and the profession, Varina High teacher An Daly wrote.

Many HCPS teachers are struggling with an overwhelming amount of duties and workload, and a pay grade that does not match the level of work being done or the household income needed to live in the area, other staff members wrote.

“The increase in our demands at work in the past three years are insane,” J.R. Tucker High teacher Lisa Dyer wrote. “We have more students who have more needs (academically, emotionally, financially, culturally) and we don't have the time or resources to adequately do our jobs. The amount of non-contract hours commitments that I'm asked to attend are outrageous!”

“I should not be needing to help coworkers file for government assistance programs like SNAP and Medicaid because of how much we are struggling,” substitute teacher Dayana Barnardi wrote. “We deserve better working conditions and higher pay to account for our basic costs of living.”

HEA members made their first public push for collective bargaining in front of the school board at a meeting last November, after other Virginia school districts such as Alexandria and Richmond approved collective bargaining for their employees. If the Henrico School Board does not introduce and pass a resolution allowing contract negotiations for HCPS employees, the HEA would need to collect signatures from more than 50% of staff from each employee contract group to force the school board to a vote.

So far, the HEA has collected more than 1,000 signatures from staff on authorization cards, Broda said.

Several county IAs, who will not be receiving the same one-step pay raise as teachers and bus drivers in the FY25 budget proposal (with Vithoulkas stating that the pay raise particularly targeted county positions that had the most vacancies), took to the online forum to express the need for contract negotiations and higher pay for IAs.

“We do not get paid enough based on what we endure physically and mentally and the responsibility we hold in the classroom,” Asia Mallory, an exceptional education IA at Harvie Elementary, wrote. “No one can truly understand what it’s like being an IA unless you are one or have been.”

“As IAs, we are confronted with students that spit, hit, punch, scratch severely, kick, pull hair, scream, yell, cry, throw items, climb counters, desks and chairs, knock dividers over in room, some need assistance in potty training and wear pull-ups or diapers,” wrote Carla Coppage, another Ex Ed IA at Harvie. “In addition, we work on academics and are following IEPs for our students. We have a lot of wonderful IAs in Henrico Schools not getting the pay they deserve.”

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While administrators and other school leaders are legally not allowed to prevent their employees from signing authorization cards or publicly supporting collective bargaining, several HCPS staff members reportedly have faced intimidation from school leaders during the authorization card signing process, Broda said.

“Just since the February school board meeting, three different instances of employees feeling intimidated by or fearful of signing their digital authorization card have been brought to my attention,” she said.

Last spring, Broda and other HEA leaders requested HCPS Superintendent Amy Cashwell and her staff put out a “neutrality statement,” which would convey to HCPS employees that they would not receive pushback for either signing or not signing authorization cards, but Cashwell opted not to do so.

“The county can do something about this, and the continued refusal to do so is not in the best interest of employee retention or student success,” Broda said.

One HCPS counselor, who did not include a name on the forum because he or she felt “unsafe sharing due to punishments received,” described facing negative consequences when expressing concerns to school leaders about working outside of contract hours.

“I have received pressure from my admin against taking my 30 minute lunch break and pressure to work many hours outside of contract,” the counselor wrote. “In respectfully voicing these concerns in my school, I have received an adverse recommendation letter that negatively impacted a professional application, pressure, various means of punishment, which is why I am asking for your support.”

With the county budget, along with employee raises being approved later this spring, HCPS staff urged the school board to support contract negotiations and allow HCPS staff to have a voice in their pay and working conditions.

“It's around the time of the year again that our raises are announced, or not announced,” Mills E. Godwin High teacher Joshua Young wrote. “We also have to let the county know if we're planning on returning next year, with little to no knowledge of where our contracts and pay will stand. We as teachers, workers, and HCPS staff deserve a seat at the table for negotiations.”

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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.