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Centennial Education Association president urges more public board engagement, raises class-size and bargaining concerns
Summary
Drew Rosa, president of the Centennial Education Association, used the public-comment period to ask that the association regain a standing time for reports to the board, asked for more in-person public conversation, raised class-size concerns and invited board members to a bargaining session Sept. 15.
Drew Rosa, president of the Centennial Education Association (CEA), spoke during the public forum of the Sept. 10 Centennial School Board meeting to request a regular opportunity for the union to provide school board reports, to urge the board to hold more conversations in open public forums rather than primarily online, and to raise concerns about class size and bargaining schedules.
Rosa said he had requested that CEA regain a standing position to provide reports but had not heard whether that request had been acted on. He asked the board to increase in-person public engagement given that many families lack reliable internet access and that language differences can compound barriers.
"Our students and families benefit most when labor and leadership are working collaboratively and transparently," Rosa said.
Rosa also urged the district to address class-size issues. He said the contract establishes a class-size committee of administrators and educators that will review concerns and make recommendations and that some commonly counted staff categories (ELD, Title I, special teachers, specialists and coaches) are included in staffing-ratio formulas even though they do not carry general-education rosters. Rosa said classrooms of 30 or more students continue to exist across the district and offered to discuss specific class-size figures with the board.
Rosa closed by noting the district began the year without a finalized contract but that the union and district had reached tentative agreements on several articles. He invited board members to attend the first bargaining session on Monday, Sept. 15, at Centennial Middle School at 4:30 p.m. to show community support for transparency and collaboration.
Board members did not respond during public comment; the matter may be taken up in executive-session bargaining updates and the board's upcoming work session agenda.
