Tentative Contract with Teachers Means Shorter School Year, Larger Classes

Representatives from the teachers’ union and the have come to a tentative agreement on a contract for next year, which will result in and a .

The two sides met Tuesday, and according to an email obtained by Patch from Capistrano Unified Education Association President Vicki Soderberg, an agreement was struck. She called an emergency meeting of teachers’ union reps from the various schools for Thursday afternoon.

Then on Friday, the CUSD Board of Trustees met for a special mid-day meeting to discuss negotiations with the teachers’ union. They met for five minutes in closed session, and President Gary Pritchard announced that the trustees “gave direction to staff.”

However, a source close to the negotiations said the trustees did indeed vote on the tentative contract, which calls for, among other things:

• An increase of 1.5 students on average per class at all grade levels
• The continuation of a 1.2 percent salary cut already in place
• The continuation of three unpaid furlough days already in place
• Five additional unpaid furlough days, to be lopped off at the end of the year
• A freeze on regular salary step-and-column increases for six months

In addition, if doesn’t pass in November, forcing the district to cut another $18 million, the district will:

• Cut another 10 days off the academic calendar (unpaid), to be set for the end of the school year
• Reduce teacher pay by 1.5 percent

However, that pay cut is not set in stone. According to the tentative agreement, shortly after the November election, the two parties will meet again to discuss whether there are ways to avoid the 1.5 percent cut if the temporary taxes don't receive voter approval.

“If no alternative(s) are agreed to on or before Jan. 1, 2013, then the 1.5 percent salary decrease shall continue to be implemented,” according to the tentative contract’s language.

Representatives from CUEA and the school district were not available for comment.

The contract must be ratified by the full membership of the teachers’ union, and then be incorporated into the 2012-13 budget, which is scheduled for trustee approval on June 27.

The district has released few details about the negotiations, other than the , this year. In 2010, the year the teachers went on strike to protest a permanent 10.1 percent cut, the school board’s president, Anna Bryson, was regularly quoted in the local media, and information about the two sides’ goals was widely disseminated.

Asked why the district has released few details this year, Bryson said: “This year CUSD has a different superintendent, board president and board majority.”

The tentative contract also makes other changes, including more "no-tell" personal days off, from three to five of the 10 sick days allowed. In addition, the district has agreed to develop ways to eliminate unnecessary paperwork and streamline duties.

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