This story was updated at 4:20 p.m.
Salem-Keizer Public Schools Superintendent Andrea Castañeda has made what she says will be her best and last contract offers to the district’s two bargaining units.
“We have put everything financially on the table that we have to offer,” Castañeda said during a news briefing Tuesday afternoon. “Full stop. There is not more money in our system.”
The unions have been bargaining with the district since the spring of 2023. Castañeda requested state mediation with the teachers’ union in September, and the classified union requested mediation in November.
On Tuesday afternoon, Castañeda made public some of the details of the district’s offer to ASK-ESP, which represents about 2,500 district support staff.
“We are encouraged by the movement of the district. We are more hopeful than before that we will secure an historic contract for our membership,” ASK-ESP president Edie Buchanan said.
“However, there are multiple issues that still must be addressed in the contract before we can settle,” she said.