The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District (SMJUHSD) has been negotiating contracts with its teachers union for more than a year, and since the groups declared an official impasse in early October, little has been accomplished.
Even with a state mediator, the parties were, again, unable to agree on a few key topics this month, including faculty salary increases for the 2018-19 school year, and proposed changes to the district’s teacher transfer process. After another unsuccessful meeting on Nov. 26, the groups agreed to move on to a fact-finding hearing, one of the last-ditch stages of the negotiation process that includes both groups pleading their cases to a panel of three judges, who will then recommend a settlement strategy.
The fact-finding process could take anywhere from 30 to 60 days, according to Kenny Klein, the district’s public information officer, who said each party is now tasked with picking one panelist, and then working together to choose a third, neutral judge.
At the hearing, the date of which will likely be announced sometime after the new year, the SMJUHSD Faculty Association and district will both present arguments to the panel. Based on those presentations, the panel will vote on a recommendation for a settlement. If the groups still cannot agree using the recommendation, Klein said the district will implement its last best offer: a 2 percent raise for the 2018-19 school year.
Klein said this is the second time the district and Faculty Association have had to hold a fact-finding hearing in the last five years.
Although Klein said the 2 percent raise would be in addition to increases to the district’s salary schedule and schedule steps, and health benefits, the Faculty Association continues to hold out in hopes of a 3.75 percent salary increase.
Faculty Association President Matt Provost said in a previous interview with the Sun that the union made its request based on what the district received from recent changes in state cost of living adjustments. The district gets about $2.44 million from the state based on cost of living adjustments, according to the district, money that is used to offset spikes in fuel, school supplies, utilities, and pension costs.
This school year, Provost said Santa Maria’s high school district is getting about 3.7 percent more in state funding because of increased cost of living adjustments. That, plus the district’s growing student enrollment and expanded state funding in other areas, makes for a financially stable district, Provost said.
Still, district officials continue to blame rising pension costs for lower than usual salary increases.
The district has about 400 teachers and 370 classified employees, most of whom are enrolled in retirement plans through the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) or the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS).
Both programs are in trouble, and employers across the state, including the district, are being forced to contribute more to pay off existing retiree benefits. By the 2019-20 school year, the district’s CalSTRS and CalPERS costs will have increased by more than $4.5 million since 2015-16, according to the district.
The groups are also struggling to agree on contractual language regarding the district’s voluntary transfer program, which Provost said allows teachers to voluntarily jump to schools with open positions. Senior-most teachers are chosen over others who apply for the positions, and Provost said it allows teachers some much-needed freedom to move around, while maintaining job and salary security.
It’s one of the few liberties teachers are allowed without administrative oversight, and Provost said the district’s contract this year would have eliminated the program entirely.
But district Assistant Superintendent Kevin Platt said in a statement on Nov. 26 that the way teachers transfer now—to any school within the district regardless of past experience and without principal approval—does not serve students well.
“To be clear, we are not saying that teachers cannot transfer, we believe teachers who are interested in transferring should be interviewed and selected,” Platt wrote in the statement. “Department chairs and principals should have the ability to select their teams, and all teachers, regardless of seniority, should have the same opportunity to compete for a position.’’
This article appears in Nov 29 – Dec 6, 2018.