REVIEW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
Friday, December 18, 2015 | Vol. 90, No. 51 | WWW.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.COM | 75¢
‘Let it not happen again’ Political talk of discrimination ignites islanders BY BRIAN KELLY
Bainbridge Island Review
Mary Woodward looked out across the crowd that packed the Japanese American Exclusion Memorial, their many faces illuminated by the flickering flames of candles in the frigid night air, and was impressed. Others would be, too, if only they could be there. “I just really wish that my mother and daddy were here. They’d be over the moon to see this,” she said. Woodward, of course, is the youngest daughter of Walt and Milly Woodward, the couple who bought the Bainbridge Island Review in 1940 and found themselves thrust into a lonely sort of fame the following year when Japan launched its surprise attack at Pearl Harbor and the United States was pulled into World War II. The Woodwards famously stood by their island neighbors and friends — Japanese Americans, many of whom had lived here for a generation or more — as war hysteria swept the nation. TURN TO VIGIL | A45
Supporters gather at the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial, in protest of current talk to ban Muslims from the country. Brian Kelly | Bainbridge Island Review
Barb McKenzie Realtor
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INSIDE: Last one standing, A36
CONTRACT TALKS AT AN IMPASSE
School district, classified employees seek mediation BY JESSICA SHELTON Bainbridge Island Review
Brian Kelly | Bainbridge Island Review
Mary Woodward, daughter of famed Review editors and outspoken protesters of the Japanese internment Walt and Milly Woodward, speaks at Monday’s vigil.
For the first time in its 16-year history, the union that represents classified employees of the Bainbridge Island School District and the district are going into mediation. Negotiations over a new contract have stalled. “Our bargaining team has spent more than a year preparing to negotiate with the district, but we are at an impasse,” Mike McCloud, president of the Bainbridge Island Educational Support Professional Association, said at last week’s school board meeting. He was joined by more than 60 colleagues, dressed in black to express their frustration with the provisions in their current contract, which expired on Aug. 31 of this year. Bargaining teams from the district and BIESPA have met for 11 negotiation sessions since late last spring, with the primary dispute centered around compensation. District officials, however, have said inadequate state funding makes it difficult to address the salary concerns of classified staff. “When we took our jobs with the district, we never expected to get rich,” McCloud said. “We love our kids and are committed to their education. But we also
Jessica Shelton | Bainbridge Island Review
Classified staff fill the room during last week’s school board meeting. They wore black to show solidarity with colleagues who voiced contract concerns. know that we are not paid what we are worth. “That’s not just me saying that,” he added, referencing a June 2012 report from the Compensation Technical Work Group, which found that classified staff across Washington earned significantly less than their private sector counterparts — anywhere from 5.5 to 27.6 percent, depending on the position. “Throughout the Great Recession, we have been patient,” McCloud continued. “We realize that many of these financial hardships are the result of factors that none of us could control. “But now, after years of patience, with the economy improving and the state funding increasing, we think it’s more important to take care of all district
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employees, the people who are the lifeblood of our mission, than to add to an already unhealthy fund imbalance,” he said. Classified staff have endured a series of losses over the past six years, starting with negligible cost-of-living adjustments and surging medical insurance premiums, McCloud explained. “Bus drivers’ hours have been cut; custodial staff have been cut while square footage has increased; para-educators have lost planning and consultation time,” he said. “Most of us are no longer included in staff meetings as we once were. The jobs of all staff are made more difficult by the increasingly dire TURN TO CONTRACT | A43