Country Club Road is blocked by LOPD. (Mac Larsen / Lake Oswego Review)

The Lake Oswego School District and the Lake Oswego Education Association have tentatively agreed to a new two-year contract for the district’s 600 educators. 

The details of the new contract won’t be announced until next week following a two-day period for the union to officially ratify the new deal. 

The district announced the news in a message sent out on Thursday, June 12. 

The message confirmed that with a new contract, no adjustments to current middle school schedules would be made and that teachers who had their positions eliminated or were relocated would be recalled back to their roles. 

“Because of this agreement, we will not need to revert our middle schools to a 7-period day. We can continue offering the robust ‘rainbow’ schedule that supports student engagement, enrichment, and exploration during the critical middle school years,”  Superintendent Jennifer Schiele said in the message. 

The message said the union accepted lower cost-of-living adjustments for the next two years to maintain teaching positions and block schedules at Lakeridge and Lake Oswego middle schools. Currently, the middle schools use a “rainbow schedule” or an alternating five block schedule with 65 minute classes. With a change, middle school students would’ve attended seven 43-minute classes each day. 

At the Monday, June 9 school board meeting, a crowd of students and teachers advocated for the continuation of block middle school schedules and cited the detrimental effects of returning to a seven period day. 

“This outcome was not guaranteed. It was made possible in large part due to the tremendous sacrifice of our educators. As part of the agreement, our teachers accepted a lower cost-of-living increase than initially proposed, an extraordinary act of solidarity that prioritized preserving jobs and what is best for students. Their commitment speaks volumes about the strength and values of our learning community,” Schiele said in the message. 

The message went on to note the continued challenges the district faces with a $10 million budget deficit. These budget deficits stem from rising inflation-related costs, expended pandemic relief funds and unexpected rate increases for the district’s PERS pension contributions. 

Although some relief is on the horizon — the Lake Oswego School District should receive around $900,000 in PERS rate increase relief from the passage of Senate Bill 849 — many teaching positions were already cut. 

“We are working diligently to manage our resources, and we are deeply appreciative of our teachers and staff for their shared commitment to our students. However, the truth is that the root issue is systemic underfunding of public education in Oregon,” Schiele said in the message.