Vancouver School District has a well-respected career and technical education program that exposes students to rewarding careers in construction, computer science, and healthcare, and other fields. So it came as quite a surprise when three local union reps found out who the district was planning to bring in to teach a module about construction safety: a safety director from Rotschy.
Rotschy, a Vancouver construction contractor, has been fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for safety and child labor violations in recent years, including for a 2023 incident in which a Southwest Washington high school student lost both legs.
The three union reps —Joe Bond of IBEW Local 48, Dustin Hysmith of Sheet Metal Local 16, and DeAnne Deal of Laborers Local 335 — serve on a committee that advises Clark County school districts on preparing students for successful construction careers. That’s where they heard that Rotschy safety director Douglas Hiivala would be teaching safety for a newly developed course on heavy civil construction that will launch this fall. Hiivala also works as a per diem nurse in diagnostic imaging at PeaceHealth Southwest Hospital; he’s represented by a union there, but he’s a longtime union objector.
Alarmed, the union reps spread the word among local union leaders, and the district started getting concerned emails.
“Rotschy has one of the worst if not the worst safety records in the State of Washington,” IBEW Local 48 business manager Garth Bachman said in an email to the district superintendent and school board members. “I am not sure how Rotschy was chosen to teach safety but if they indeed were, this contract needs to be retracted and awarded to a company or individual that has a superior safety record.”
Mark Wreath, the district’s career and college readiness director, did not respond to attempts to reach him by phone and email. But a district spokesperson said Rotschy won’t be teaching safety after all. CTE staff planned a safety module for students when they return to school in the fall, the spokesperson told the Labor Press by email: “Originally Rotschy had indicated they would like to participate, but we are not planning to include them in this module.”
