Centralia Education Association members stand outside the Centralia School District Board Room on Wednesday evening after the room reaches maximum capacity.
Rebekah Barnes addresses the Centralia School Board on Wednesday evening about teacher salaries.
As the first day of school approaches, the Centralia teachers’ union and the Centralia School District still haven’t agreed on a contract.
At the Centralia School District Board of Directors’ meeting on Wednesday evening, a crowd of teachers wearing red and holding signs attempted to sit in on the public meeting.
With 56 chairs (including board member chairs), attendees quickly ran out of room to sit. Assistant Chief Rick Mack of the Riverside Fire Authority inspected the building before the meeting and determined that the maximum occupancy for the evening was 62 people.
In the middle of the budget hearing, the board asked anyone who could not find a seat to exit the building.
While a few teachers who remained inside the building attempted to open windows so those standing outside could hear the meeting, the windows were closed within a few minutes.
Before the meeting reached the public comment portion, members of the Centralia Education Association marched around the building. They chanted slogans like, “low pay, no way!” and “fair contracts now!”
Ten people spoke during the public comment section, nine of which were either teachers or parents.
“The district is trying to create a narrative we are losing money because of levy dollars,” said Michael Ready, who is a teacher at Centralia High School. “That’s false.”
Centralia High School English Teacher Rebekah Barnes said that 41 teachers have left the district this year and that the “vast majority left to pursue other job opportunities where they felt more valued.”
Fords Prairie Elementary School teacher Nancy Herzog read a list of teacher raises in Washington state, provided by the Washington Education Association.
“It’s going to take a miracle to get our educators to the first day of school,” said Lauri Johnson, who is the co-chair of the union. She also said that parents and teachers called to request a larger venue for Wednesday’s meeting.
Kerri Kite-Pocklington, the other co-chair of the union, wrote in a text message on Thursday that when the school board traditionally anticipates a large crowd, it meets in the middle school library to accommodate people.
Before the board went into executive session, Davalos told The Chronicle that he did not receive calls from teachers and parents that the board room was too small. However, he said that he suspected the room would not be large enough to house everyone and worked with the fire marshall that day to increase the occupancy limit.
“We suspected (that there wouldn’t be enough room),” Davalos said. “We rushed all day to get the fire marshall to allow for more chairs.”
Davalos also said that people who stood outside of the building still had the opportunity to sign up for public comment.
“We would have called them (to come inside),” Davalos said.
Teachers in the Centralia Education Association voted in early August to call for a strike if contracts aren’t settled by September. The next bargaining session between the Centralia Education Association and Centralia School District is scheduled for Sunday.
