Thursday was our twelfth bargaining session with the District, and what a change in pace! The District’s team started the session by expressing that their priority is to avoid a strike. Even though our ULP strike is not specifically tied to bargaining, they’ve felt the heat: Not just of the 90% ULP strike vote, but of members and community allies showing up strong to rally for Special Education at the board meeting on Tuesday. District leaders now want a deal, including settling the entire contract as quickly as possible. That means scheduling additional bargaining dates and serious movement on many of the areas that our SDEA bargaining team has identified as top priorities: Special Education solutions, wages, mental health supports, restoring the ECE stipend, and elimination of Fall excessing. With so many articles still open, speeding up the bargaining process will mean prioritizing getting the best deal we can now while also setting the stage for future improvements.
This update is structured a little differently to share what we’ve already agreed on, what we’ve made significant movement on, and what we’re still negotiating.
Tentative Agreements Reached:
At this session we came to agreement on quite a few points – a direct result of the collective pressure the District is feeling from SDEA members!
- Article 9: Our copay limits are protected! The District retracted their proposal to remove the limit on Kaiser co-pays – $10 limit restored!
- Articles 14 & 18: Our improved evaluation system is now enshrined in the contract, with the flexibility needed to continue to tweak the system as issues arise.
- Article 11: We’ve ensured that safety conditions include access to clean, cool air and a more streamlined process for requesting the most urgent repairs.
- Article 36: We won stronger, more sustainable Community Schools rooted in shared decision making.
- Article 22: We won protections for the workload of English Language Development teachers.
These tentative agreements are the individual puzzle pieces that will make up the full contract that members will vote on, after we’ve reached agreement on all the individual articles. Tentative agreements need to be signed by both District and SDEA teams, which is still in progress for some, but you can view an ongoing list of all tentative agreements in their own tab in our proposal tracker.
Important movement on Special Education staffing:
With a looming strike date over Special Education staffing, the District brought a package of proposed Special Education solutions.
- They agreed to settle the still pending caseload grievances for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years, and to enforceable monthly stipends for caseload overages in the contract – more enforceable than the current language which led to years of unresolved grievances that did nothing to ensure students had the staffing needed. (This would allow settlement for educators currently over caseload in the current school year, without a years-long wait on a union-wide grievance!)
- They agreed to case management days for Mild/Moderate Ed Specialists.
- They agreed to codify the current ECSE instructional model in the contract: Maintaining the weekly indirect service day, coverage provided by ECSE Itinerant teachers and non-classroom teachers, 4-day instructional options, and infant teacher caseload caps.
- They proposed a sideletter to continue the Special Education Credential Pathway from this year’s SERP agreement, so that educators can add a credential and fill SpEd vacancies.
- See the District’s full package of proposed Special Education solutions.
This proposal from the District represents important movement on these Special Education staffing solutions and their motivation to avoid a strike over Special Education.
Still negotiating:
Raises
In response to our last proposal of 7% across two school years, the District proposed a little over half of that: 1.87% for 2025-26 and another 1.87% for 2026-27, but delayed until after the District gets state funds. This is still less than COLA, which is confirmed 2.3% for this school year and estimated 2.41% for next school year. See the District’s full proposal for Article 7 – Wages: Wages: 2025-2026 & 2026-2027.
Expanded leave
We proposed a variety of changes to expand access to leave:
- We proposed increased and more flexible pregnancy leave, and expanded the definition of “immediate family” when it comes to leaves.
- We re-proposed the option to work elsewhere during long-term unpaid leaves. (In current language, if a member has to temporarily leave to care for a family member or to follow a deployed partner, they would have to resign if they wanted to get any employment – even while on unpaid leave.)
- We also proposed language to make it harder for admin to require a doctor’s note for sick leave.
Transfers and Excessing
We proposed a variety of updates to Article 12 to codify and continue to build on the improvements piloted this past Spring, as we seek to entirely end the chaos of Fall Excessing.
- We proposed that VAPA be itinerant rather than multiple assignment staff, which would address a variety of issues that have arisen.
- We proposed changes to make excessing more fair, like making it harder for admin to play favorites with indispensable services and extended day assignments, and tiebreaking procedures for excessing and for when multiple people want to volunteer to be excessed.
- See all SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 12: Transfer Policies.
Staffing and class sizes
- We revisited the addition of a pilot program of 19 intervention counselors in each high school cluster.
- We proposed improvements to nurse staffing to end the unsustainable workloads created by inadequate health office staffing, ensuring legally mandated services are provided as well as protecting student safety and access to care. We also re-proposed language to ensure a full time nurse at specialized schools and to strengthen language around vision, hearing, immunization and itinerant nurses.
- We proposed class size caps for combo classes and protections for members assigned to combo classes.
- We proposed leaving the current language around class size and athletic periods. Members have brought up issues with the current limit for PE classes, which impacts sports programs. However, other members brought up the issue that removing those limits would allow administrators to dump giant class sizes on one person. By keeping status quo language, individual members and programs (for example, coaches) can still submit an exception through the contract waiver process in Article 24.3 (with a deadline of April 15.)
- See all SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 13: Class Size.
Protecting the time of new members
In the interest of coming to an agreement, we’ve backed off on additional pay for NEO scheduled for during instructional days, since those are already paid days. However, we’re holding firm on educators being paid for the time they attend outside of work hours during the school year. See all SDEA’s proposed changes to Article 5:Employee Organization Rights.
What’s Next?
With the District eager to settle, we’ve scheduled additional bargaining dates. Mark your calendar and wear red in solidarity on our upcoming bargaining dates: February 3, February 5, February 12, & February 26.
Most importantly, stay tuned for updates – watch for our emails, attend your union meetings, and keep showing up! Our solidarity and our collective power is what makes the difference.
See our tracker for all proposals exchanged so far and all tentative agreements, with links to read the full text of each.
In Solidarity,
SDEA’s Bargaining Team
Kyle Weinberg, SDEA President, Ed. Specialist: Mild/Moderate, English and History Teacher; Laurie Bailon, Restorative Justice Teacher, Bell MS; Carly Bresee, Ed. Specialist: Moderate/Severe, Lafayette ES, Sarah Darr, SDEA Secretary, WCW Campaign Organizer & SLP; Christina Gallegos, ECSE Teacher, Rodriguez ES; Candace Gyure, School Nurse; Stacy Hernandez, SDEA Bargaining Chair & 2nd Grade Teacher, Dailard El.; Andrew Melia, School Psychologist, Riley School; Elizabeth Miller, Ed. Specialist: Mild/Moderate, Lewis MS; Eri Nall, Head Counselor; Kiki Ochoa, History and Ethnic Studies Lead Teacher, Lincoln HS; Lori Schmersal, PE Teacher & Coach, Clairemont HS; plus SDEA staff Anthony Saavedra, Executive Director, Sara Holerud, Organizer, and Rafal Dobrowolski, Contract Specialist
