SDEA Bargaining Update 9/15/2021

SDEA and District Bargaining Teams Begin Negotiations on AB 130 and AB 167

After the ratification of our reopening plan, new state legislation was passed (AB 130 and AB 167) that changed the rules for Independent Study (IS). The SDEA and SDUSD Bargaining Teams met yesterday to bargain the impacts and effects of AB 130 and AB 167.

These recently adopted state laws adjust IS requirements for students and require that in the 2021-2022 school year:

Students be given an IS contract when they’re out of school for more than 3 days
Students on IS contracts for 15 or more cumulative instructional days within a school year be given access to live interaction and/or synchronous instruction.

AB 130 requires the following for students who are on IS contracts for 15 or more cumulative instructional days within a school year:

Grades TK–3: Daily Synchronous Instruction
Grades 4–8: Both Daily Live Interaction and Weekly Synchronous Instruction
Grades 9–12: Weekly Synchronous Instruction

Live interaction is defined as interaction between the pupil and classified or certificated staff with the purpose of maintaining school connectedness and includes wellness checks, progress monitoring, provision of services, and instruction.

Synchronous instruction is defined as classroom-style instruction, designated small group, or one-on-one, involving live two-way communication between the teacher and pupil.

Prior to this legislation, our fight with the District was to ensure that students who choose to remain online are taught by an online-only educator, not an in-person educator–and we won that with the creation of the Virtual Academy. SDEA has consistently asserted that the ideal instructional model for students seeking long-term independent study are specialized District IS programs such as the Virtual Academy, not short-term IS contracts from comprehensive schools that require a significant investment of educator time and energy – commodities in short supply as we continue adapting to the ever-changing conditions of this pandemic. Students on involuntary quarantines, however, should be served by classroom and non-classroom educators according to the requirements of the law (AB 130 and AB 167) which supersede any SDEA agreements with the District.

District’s AB 130 Plan

The District team presented their plan which included the following:

For Days 1-14 of an IS contract, students in Grades TK-12 will receive:
- Daily general education assignments and designated ELS via Learning Management System (LMS) or hardcopies
- Daily instruction with related service providers and Ed. Specialists based on student IEPs
- Weekly live check-in provided by the counselor
For Days 15+ of an IS contract, students will receive:
- Grades TK-3 – 2 hours minimum of daily instruction via video conferencing
- Grades 4-5 – 1 hour minimum of daily instruction via video conferencing, and over the course of the week receive instruction in each subject area
- Grades 6-12 – 1 hour minimum, or equivalent of 1 class period, of daily instruction via video conferencing, and over the course of the week receive instruction in each subject area
The District’s plan includes two options to provide the IS contracts of 15 or more school days:
- Option 1 – Each classroom educator at a site will use an LMS to facilitate the completion of IS contracts
- Option 2 – Select teachers per grade level/content area will use an LMS to facilitate the completion of IS contracts. These select educators will be added to each student as a co-teacher

District’s AB 130 Proposal

The District’s initial proposal includes compensation for classroom and non-classroom educators, at the rate of $350 per semester, who provide live instruction to students. Educators will receive the stipend after the first time providing live instruction to a student on an IS contract, and will be responsible for providing instruction to anyone on their roster that qualifies for the remainder of the semester.

If sites utilize the co-teaching model in Option 2 above, then this grade-level or content-area educator will be eligible to receive an additional $350 per classroom/content-area for which they provide the live instruction. This option is capped at a maximum of three additional stipends per semester.

SDEA’s AB 130 Counterproposal

While we must meet the requirements of AB 130 and AB 167, there are several elements of the District’s initial plan and proposal that go far beyond the mandates set forth in the recent state law. SDEA’s counterproposal balances the needs of our students with state law.

Our SDEA Bargaining Team developed a counterproposal that includes:

Giving educators the discretion to determine the length of the interaction with quarantined students
Requiring progressive steps to seek volunteers to provide live interaction or synchronous instruction as required by the new law
Hourly compensation at the pro rata rate
Access to digital assignment tracking system to reduce workload associated with evaluating and accounting for the work of quarantined students.

Positive COVID case rates are easing in San Diego County and in California as a whole due to our science-based response to the pandemic. In contrast to states like Florida that withheld money from school districts that require masks, the four most important COVID mitigations are in place in SDUSD schools: vaccines, air quality, masks and testing. If the current trends hold true, we should see diminishing numbers of students who are forced to quarantine. Our District needs to be prepared, though, for any future eventuality. This means that we as union educators need to be proactive and push the district to establish a plan to implement AB 130 and AB 167 in a way that meets the needs of BOTH in-person and remote students on IS contracts.

Next Bargaining Date

The bargaining teams meet again on Friday to continue working toward a final agreement.

Together We Are Stronger!

SDEA Bargaining Team: Kyle Weinberg, Ed. Specialist/History Teacher/SDEA Vice President, Teri Ang, Drama Teacher, Mann MS; Stacy Hernandez, 2nd Grade Teacher, Dailard El.; Sarah Darr, SLP, Millennial Tech MS & Scripps Ranch HS; Jared Enyart, Education Specialist, Mission Bay HS; plus SDEA staff Abdul Sayid, Executive Director, and Sara Holerud, SDEA Organizer