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Board ratifies teacher contract, approves waiver request and adds student minutes to protect instructional time
Summary
The Issaquah School District board voted to ratify a collective bargaining agreement with the Issaquah Education Association and approved measures to secure instructional minutes and state waiver eligibility.
The Issaquah School District board ratified a tentative agreement with the Issaquah Education Association covering Sept. 1, 2025, through Aug. 31, 2028, and moved to operationalize contract provisions that affect the district calendar and student contact minutes.
Staff said bargaining focused on investments to support inclusive practice, bolster the collaboration between special education and general educators, and achieve class‑size containment where possible. District negotiators and union leaders negotiated changes they described as affordable and operationally feasible.
The board then adopted Resolution 1245 authorizing staff to request a three‑year waiver from the state minimum 180‑day school year requirement for the 2025–26 through 2027–28 school years. Staff explained the negotiated calendar change consolidates two district professional‑development days (October and January) into a single January PD day; if approved by OSPI this would convert one district PD day into a student day and count toward the 180‑day requirement. District staff said the change is approved content‑wise for state purposes and would give the district more flexibility for inclement‑weather makeup days.
As a related action, the board authorized increasing student contact (Basic Education Allocation, BEA) minutes by five minutes at every elementary school and by five minutes at five middle schools. District staff said that change yields approximately 11.9 additional hours of student contact time across the school year and raises the district’s BEA minutes above the state threshold that OSPI requires to consider inclement‑weather waiver requests. Board members discussed family impacts and directed staff to minimize disruption when adjusting bell times.
The motions to ratify the collective bargaining agreement, to adopt Resolution 1245 (the waiver request) and to increase student contact minutes were moved, seconded and approved by voice votes.
What it means: The ratified contract and the associated calendar/minutes changes are intended to increase instructional time eligibility for inclement‑weather waivers while preserving union commitments to professional development and supports for inclusion. The district will work with the union on calendar adjustments and with transportation staff to implement any bell‑time changes.
Next steps: Staff will submit the OSPI waiver application, work with IEA on calendar details and present revised bell times and related calendar adjustments to the board for required approvals.
