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Washoe Education Association president raises concern about alleged threat to file unfair-practice claim
Summary
At closing public comment, the Washoe Education Association president said district negotiators threatened to file an unfair-labor-practice claim over the union's public advocacy and urged continued collaborative bargaining.
Kaelin Evans, president of the Washoe Education Association, told the Washoe County School District Board of Trustees during public comment that district negotiators had suggested filing a complaint with the Nevada Employee-Management Relations Board (EMRB) over the union’s public advocacy.
"This approach is deeply concerning as it undermines collaboration and suggests a tactic aimed at discouraging educators from advocating for programs that directly benefit students," Evans said. She told trustees the union’s communications were public records and that the union distributed them because it wanted an open conversation with the district and the public.
Why this matters: Evans said the union has not begun contract negotiations and that public advocacy for program improvements should not be treated as a bargaining violation. She urged the board and district leadership to preserve collaborative relations during upcoming negotiations and called on both sides to work in good faith.
What the union said Evans told the board the Washoe Education Association had a team in Carson City during the legislative session advocating for K–12 funding increases and that educators would continue to press elected officials for additional resources. "We have consistently worked to create meaningful improvements for educators and students, and that will not change," she said.
Board response and context Board members acknowledged public comment and did not take immediate action at the meeting. Trustees and staff reaffirmed an interest in continued collaboration; the meeting’s budget discussion and the board’s subsequent votes to request multiple fiscal analyses were framed as part of a broader budget-planning process that will intersect with collective-bargaining discussions in future months.
Next steps The comments were entered into the public record. Any formal labor-relations filings or responses would be processed separately through the district’s labor-relations channels and, if applicable, the EMRB’s procedures.
