Although educators and faculty members at the Medford School District are entering the second half of the academic year without a new teacher contract signed, union leaders and school administrators say they are certain a new contract is on the horizon.

School district administrators and union representatives with the Medford Education Association met Wednesday evening. The district brought a new financial package that includes a 13.25% cost-of-living increase over three years, increased compensation for unused personal days and the retention of a free insurance plan for educators.

“We’re still at the table working hard on what are always complex issues; education is a complicated place,” said Bret Champion, the school district superintendent. “We want to make sure our educators are compensated fairly and competitively.”

While little progress was made for tentative contract agreements during the Wednesday bargaining session, both parties reiterated their intention to get the new contract signed.

Jessica Fitzsimmons, president of the MEA, said the district “seemed a little disappointed” that more progress was not made Wednesday.

“We acknowledge that that can be frustrating, especially for as long as we’ve been doing this, but we’re trying to represent all 725, 750 of our members to the best that we can and also do what’s best for our students,” Fitzsimmons said. “While I can feel their frustration this week, I do think that we are going to be able to get some things figured out.”

Champion said the main issues the district is working on with union members are compensation and working conditions, which will be discussed at the next bargaining session.

Other key topics for union representatives are class sizes and caseloads for teachers.

“I think that protections on class sizes and caseloads are some of the things that people are most concerned about, especially when it comes to special education classrooms,” Fitzsimmons said. “In order for teachers to have safe, collaborative classrooms they have to have manageable class sizes, so I think that’s what our teachers are most concerned about.”

The union president anticipates that significant progress will be made in the next bargaining session, scheduled for 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 10.

“I think personally that we will be able to make substantial progress next week,” Fitzsimmons said. “We are still extremely optimistic that we’re going to get this settled soon.”

For updates from the district on contract negotiations, visit www.medford.k12.or.us/departments1/human-resources/msdmea-bargaining-updates-2023.