Association proposes broad safety reforms, training and incident protocol adopted from Salem

Association negotiators offered a comprehensive rewrite of Article 8 to broaden workplace safety protections beyond narrow references to aggressive students and to standardize training, reporting and operational responses across job classifications.

Key proposals included mandatory de‑escalation training for any classified employee who works in school buildings, with mid‑year hires to be trained within 30 days. The association requested a minimum of 16 paid hours to complete required district trainings and asked that transportation employees (bus drivers and aides) receive specialized safety training tailored to on‑bus incidents.

The association also pushed for stronger operational safeguards: two‑person staffing requirements when employees perform personal or medical care that poses safety risks, and giving classified employees access to IEPs/504 and behavior/safety plans when they are assigned to work with students who have such plans. The association sought the right for those classified employees to be invited to IEP meetings and to review any modifications within five working days.

For incident handling, the association proposed adding an Appendix (Appendix H) modeled on a Salem district protocol that lays out step‑by‑step supervisor responsibilities, initial assessments, employee check‑ins, guidance on whether to seek medical assessment, and preventative follow‑up. The proposal also asks that event reports and inspection findings be made available to the association upon request and that the district publish emergency protocols and action plans online.

District representatives asked several clarifying questions — for example, how safeguards would apply across certified and classified contracts and what triggers formal reporting versus informal assessment — but did not reject the proposals outright. Negotiators agreed to continue working through technical details, including when specialized training is due and whether the Appendix language should be an MOU or part of the contract.