CSD - CEA Negotiations Information
CSD Licensed Employee Bargaining & Mediation Information
The Centennial School District (CSD) entered into negotiations with the Centennial Education Association (CEA) on February 10, 2025 and have met for 15 bargaining sessions.
As part of our most recent offer, the District has proposed:
- COLA increases of 4.25%, 3.25%, and 3% over three years (10.5% total).
- Additional workload relief, including more teacher preparation time, passing time for secondary students, and protected time for reviewing student data.
- Stronger class size and caseload supports, including lower Kindergarten parameters (18–25 students, two fewer students than current contract language) and additional compensation when class sizes or caseloads exceed contractual parameters.
Bargaining Timeline (click date for session notes):
After 15 bargaining sessions, Centennial School District and CEA entered state mediation on February 4, 2026. For an update on the February 4 mediation session, see the link below.
February 4, 2026 - Mediation Update
Two additional mediations sessions are scheduled for February 26 and 27, 2026. Mediation is a standard part of the bargaining process. During mediation school remains open, students continue to learn, and both sides continue to work toward a contract that supports strong classrooms and a stable future for the District.
Our goals in mediation are straightforward:
- Support safe, stable, and well-staffed schools for students
- Provide competitive, sustainable compensation for educators
- Protect student programs and services over the long term
We remain committed to this process and to achieving a settlement that is fair to our educators, responsible to our taxpayers, and keeps our students at the center of everything we do.
The State-Mandated Mediation Process:
The PECBA (Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act) outlines a clear process and timeline for resolving negotiations.
As of December 2025, the District and the Association had reached a tentative agreement on changes to 16 articles in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Seven articles remain open, including:
- Article 10 – Reduction in Force
- Article 11 – Calendar and Workday
- Article 12 – Workload
- Article 16 – Compensation
- Article 17 – Insurance
- Article 23 – Duration of Agreement
- CEA Proposed New Article – Centennial Virtual Academy
- Appendix E – MOU regarding Class Sizes, Case Loads, and Individual
Bargaining Session Notes – Click the dates below to review notes from previous bargaining sessions:
Similar to other school districts, Centennial must balance rising costs with uncertain future revenues. Two key ideas guide our approach:
- Keeping Students at the Center: Guided by our core values, every decision we make is grounded in our commitment to ensuring that Centennial students not only succeed academically, but also experience a deep sense of belonging, inclusion, and purpose.
- Fiscal Solvency and Responsibility: Like all Oregon school districts, Centennial receives a fixed budget based on the state funding formula, dependent on student enrollment. Under this funding format, increased spending in one area (such as salaries) requires reduced spending in other areas (such as staffing to maintain low class sizes). Additionally, compounding increases in spending may not necessarily be matched by adequate increases in state funding in future years.
Fiscal planning, including that which informs bargaining proposals, requires a long-term approach to ensure we can meet our financial obligations now and in the coming years.
In short, the District is focused on protecting classrooms and student programs today, while avoiding deep cuts and instability in the future.
Ending Fund Balance
The District maintains a reserve, called the ending fund balance. This reserve represents the savings or funds that the District has at the end of the year, after all annual expenses are paid.
The District’s current proposal in bargaining with CEA reflects this balanced, intentional approach to spending down our ending fund balance while still protecting the financial stability of the District. In contrast, CEA’s current proposal would require a much sharper decline in reserves each year, resulting in a negative fund balance in the third year that would necessitate significant cuts to staffing and student programs to restore solvency.
This is the core financial challenge: finding a settlement that honors the work of educators and addresses classroom needs without putting the District on a path that forces major reductions later.
Recent public commentary and media coverage have referenced class sizes broadly across the District. This has included characterizations of overcrowding and “dangerous” class sizes, along with claims that class sizes regularly reach the mid-30s to more than 40 students. For those interested in reading more, coverage includes:
- Gresham Outlook (January 15, 2026)
- KOIN News (February 2, 2026)
- KATU News (February 4, 2026)
To provide clarity, the disaggregated data presented below includes enrollment and class size information for our elementary schools, where current averages remain in the mid-20s. Secondary class size patterns are influenced by scheduling structures, course offerings, and program design and are not directly comparable to elementary classroom averages.
The information below reflects the District’s October 1, 2025, Class Size Data, which is the enrollment count used for the annual “Fall Membership Report” utilized to determine staffing and for state reporting. Enrollment counts are analyzed monthly and are publicly available via the monthly Regular Meeting of the CSD Board of Directors.
Based on the District’s October 1, 2025 class size data, the District-wide elementary average is 25 students per classroom. The vast majority of elementary classroom sizes are in the low-to-mid 20s, with several sections falling significantly below the District average. District data does not indicate routine elementary class sizes in the mid-30s as a systemwide condition. While individual classrooms may fluctuate due to enrollment changes throughout the year, isolated higher sections are not representative of districtwide enrollment patterns.
October 2025 Elementary Enrollment by School
As reflected in the enrollment table and accompanying analysis, elementary class sizes across the District are predominantly operating in the low-to-mid 20s.
The data shows that while specific sections occasionally reach the low 30s due to enrollment fluctuations, the average class is significantly lower. Enrollment data from more recent months reflects similar averages to the October 1 data.
Overview of Proposal Structures for Addressing Class Size Overages
The February 4, 2026 mediation session highlighted differing operational approaches to managing enrollment overages: the use of additional staffing to reduce class sizes and workload, and compensation tied to class size overages.
Teacher Pay vs. Staffing Management Strategies
• District Philosophy (Balanced Approach): The District’s proposal reflects a 50/50 split in addressing class size overages. Under the District’s costed proposal, half of the class size overages would be addressed by opening and staffing new classrooms (up to facility capacity) to provide genuine workload relief, and half of the class size overages would be addressed through negotiated overage compensation.
• CEA Philosophy (Compensation-Focused): CEA’s costing estimates and proposal primarily address class size overages through overage pay mechanisms, rather than through the addition of new teaching positions.
These differing proposal structures have distinct operational impacts. A balanced approach directly reduces student-to-teacher ratios and classroom workload, while a compensation-based approach maintains existing class sizes while providing financial compensation for overages.
Pay Over Staffing Proposal
The visual below illustrates the structural difference between a staffing-inclusive model and a compensation-only model for addressing class size overages.
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After 15 bargaining sessions, Centennial School District and CEA entered state mediation on February 4, 2026. For an update on the February 4 mediation session, see the link below.
February 4, 2026 - Mediation Update
Two additional mediations sessions are scheduled for February 26 and 27, 2026. Mediation is a standard part of the bargaining process. During mediation school remains open, students continue to learn, and both sides continue to work toward a contract that supports strong classrooms and a stable future for the District.
Our goals in mediation are straightforward:
- Support safe, stable, and well-staffed schools for students
- Provide competitive, sustainable compensation for educators
- Protect student programs and services over the long term
We remain committed to this process and to achieving a settlement that is fair to our educators, responsible to our taxpayers, and keeps our students at the center of everything we do.
The State-Mandated Mediation Process:
The PECBA (Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act) outlines a clear process and timeline for resolving negotiations.
-
As of December 2025, the District and the Association had reached a tentative agreement on changes to 16 articles in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Seven articles remain open, including:
- Article 10 – Reduction in Force
- Article 11 – Calendar and Workday
- Article 12 – Workload
- Article 16 – Compensation
- Article 17 – Insurance
- Article 23 – Duration of Agreement
- CEA Proposed New Article – Centennial Virtual Academy
- Appendix E – MOU regarding Class Sizes, Case Loads, and Individual
Bargaining Session Notes – Click the dates below to review notes from previous bargaining sessions:
-
Similar to other school districts, Centennial must balance rising costs with uncertain future revenues. Two key ideas guide our approach:
- Keeping Students at the Center: Guided by our core values, every decision we make is grounded in our commitment to ensuring that Centennial students not only succeed academically, but also experience a deep sense of belonging, inclusion, and purpose.
- Fiscal Solvency and Responsibility: Like all Oregon school districts, Centennial receives a fixed budget based on the state funding formula, dependent on student enrollment. Under this funding format, increased spending in one area (such as salaries) requires reduced spending in other areas (such as staffing to maintain low class sizes). Additionally, compounding increases in spending may not necessarily be matched by adequate increases in state funding in future years.
Fiscal planning, including that which informs bargaining proposals, requires a long-term approach to ensure we can meet our financial obligations now and in the coming years. In short, the District is focused on protecting classrooms and student programs today, while avoiding deep cuts and instability in the future.
Ending Fund Balance
The District maintains a reserve, called the ending fund balance. This reserve represents the savings or funds that the District has at the end of the year, after all annual expenses are paid.
The District’s current proposal in bargaining with CEA reflects this balanced, intentional approach to spending down our ending fund balance while still protecting the financial stability of the District. In contrast, CEA’s current proposal would require a much sharper decline in reserves each year, resulting in a negative fund balance in the third year that would necessitate significant cuts to staffing and student programs to restore solvency.
This is the core financial challenge: finding a settlement that honors the work of educators and addresses classroom needs without putting the District on a path that forces major reductions later.
-
Recent public commentary and media coverage have referenced class sizes broadly across the District. This has included characterizations of overcrowding and “dangerous” class sizes, along with claims that class sizes regularly reach the mid-30s to more than 40 students. For those interested in reading more, coverage includes:
- Gresham Outlook (January 15, 2026)
- KOIN News (February 2, 2026)
- KATU News (February 4, 2026)
To provide clarity, the disaggregated data presented below includes enrollment and class size information for our elementary schools, where current averages remain in the mid-20s. Secondary class size patterns are influenced by scheduling structures, course offerings, and program design and are not directly comparable to elementary classroom averages.
The information below reflects the District’s October 1, 2025, Class Size Data, which is the enrollment count used for the annual “Fall Membership Report” utilized to determine staffing and for state reporting. Enrollment counts are analyzed monthly and are publicly available via the monthly Regular Meeting of the CSD Board of Directors.
Based on the District’s October 1, 2025 class size data, the District-wide elementary average is 25 students per classroom. The vast majority of elementary classroom sizes are in the low-to-mid 20s, with several sections falling significantly below the District average. District data does not indicate routine elementary class sizes in the mid-30s as a systemwide condition. While individual classrooms may fluctuate due to enrollment changes throughout the year, isolated higher sections are not representative of districtwide enrollment patterns.
October 2025 Elementary Enrollment by School
As reflected in the enrollment table and accompanying analysis, elementary class sizes across the District are predominantly operating in the low-to-mid 20s.
The data shows that while specific sections occasionally reach the low 30s due to enrollment fluctuations, the average class is significantly lower. Enrollment data from more recent months reflects similar averages to the October 1 data.
Overview of Proposal Structures for Addressing Class Size Overages
The February 4, 2026 mediation session highlighted differing operational approaches to managing enrollment overages: the use of additional staffing to reduce class sizes and workload, and compensation tied to class size overages.
Teacher Pay vs. Staffing Management Strategies
• District Philosophy (Balanced Approach): The District’s proposal reflects a 50/50 split in addressing class size overages. Under the District’s costed proposal, half of the class size overages would be addressed by opening and staffing new classrooms (up to facility capacity) to provide genuine workload relief, and half of the class size overages would be addressed through negotiated overage compensation.
• CEA Philosophy (Compensation-Focused): CEA’s costing estimates and proposal primarily address class size overages through overage pay mechanisms, rather than through the addition of new teaching positions.
These differing proposal structures have distinct operational impacts. A balanced approach directly reduces student-to-teacher ratios and classroom workload, while a compensation-based approach maintains existing class sizes while providing financial compensation for overages.
Pay Over Staffing Proposal
The visual below illustrates the structural difference between a staffing-inclusive model and a compensation-only model for addressing class size overages.
Mediation: Frequently Asked Questions
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Mediation is a voluntary problem-solving process in which a neutral, state-appointed mediator helps both bargaining teams work through remaining differences. The mediator does not take sides or impose decisions. Their role is to support both teams in reaching a mutually acceptable agreement.
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After many months of bargaining and 16 articles tentatively agreed upon, a small number of topics still require additional attention and problem-solving. Mediation provides structure, confidentiality, and professional support to help both sides make progress and move toward a final agreement.
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Mediation sessions usually include:
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Both bargaining teams meeting with the mediator
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Time for private conversations between the mediator and each team
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The mediator helping explore options, alternatives, and possible compromises
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Exchange of refined proposals or counterproposals
Sessions can be short or long, depending on the issues being addressed.
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Yes. Mediation does not interrupt the school calendar. Students continue learning, educators continue teaching, and all school programs and services continue as normal.
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No. Mediation is confidential so the mediator can work with both parties candidly. Once a tentative agreement is reached, the details will be shared publicly.