The strained relationship between the Hollister School District
and its teachers continues as the two groups are at an impasse over
salary and benefit negotiations.
Several teachers and parents spoke at the district’s Board of
Trustees meeting Tuesday night during public comment, discussing
feelings of frustration, unrest and lack of trust. The teacher
contract expired last June 30 and teachers are asking for a
raise
– they did not receive one last year.
The strained relationship between the Hollister School District and its teachers continues as the two groups are at an impasse over salary and benefit negotiations.
Several teachers and parents spoke at the district’s Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday night during public comment, discussing feelings of frustration, unrest and lack of trust. The teacher contract expired last June 30 and teachers are asking for a raise – they did not receive one last year.
“It’s time you as a school board make our certificated teachers your No. 1 priority,” said Howard Madden, Hollister Elementary School Teachers Association, or HESTA, president and teacher.
While district staff contend there is not enough money for raises, Madden said the district has more than $3.7 million more than the state-mandated 3 percent in reserves. A 1-percent raise for HESTA’s 335 teachers would amount to $215,000, Madden said.
As mandated by law, district staff and trustees are prohibited from making any comments or taking any action about issues discussed during public comment.
HSD Board President Dee Brown said Wednesday that it’s the Board’s responsibility as elected officials to make sure the district remains fiscally solvent.
“If there was money to give them, we’d give it,” Brown said. “We do value our teachers.”
Because of the district’s conservative nature, it is not in the dire situations other districts are, such as considering closing schools or massive layoffs, Brown said. She also added that trustees spent two hours in closed session prior to the meeting going through two inches of paperwork relating to finances.
The Board and district has decided to write a one-page memo “that gives people the information they need to understand the district’s position” and why the Board members and district staff have made the decisions they have, Brown said. The letter should be ready by the end of the week.
To some teachers, it seems that the district has been “creating a very large unrestricted reserve in the last three years,” said teacher Geoffrey Holland. Unrestricted funding has no strings attached and can be spent as a district sees fit. Since the money is allotted to the district based on current students, it should be spent on those students, not saved for students five or 10 years down the road, Holland said.
Since the two groups are at impasse, a mediator with the state will come in and try to help the two sides reach an agreement.
“We want to work with the district to do everything we can to make the district appealing to new educators. That’s difficult to do with distrust,” Madden said.
Lack of trust on the teachers’ part stems from negotiations more than a year ago when a 2-percent raise was agreed upon by the union as well as district negotiators and its lawyer. The Board then voted against the agreement – they essentially reneged on the agreement, Madden said.
“I don’t understand why the district and teachers have to be adversaries,” said Michal Cook, kindergarten teacher at Ladd Lane Elementary, who also spoke at the meeting. “I think they should be offering me things that would make me want to stay here not make me want to leave.”
Especially frustrating to the teachers is that other districts in the area have been able to negotiate contracts with raises. Classified staff at the smaller Aromas-San Juan Unified School District received a retroactive 1-percent raise and a 2-percent mid-year raise. Certificated and classified employees with the County Office of Education received a 3-percent increase in salary effective July 2003. Gilroy Unified School District teachers received a 3-percent raise retroactive to the beginning of the school year.
Brown argued Wednesday that the cost of medical insurance is increasing exponentially each year. This year’s costs increased $2,500 for each employee, amounting to a 5-percent increase, she said.
At the meeting, both new and veteran teachers spoke about the impasse and low morale. Cook said ordering a cake for teachers on Teacher Appreciation Day in April was a joke.
“Cake on Teacher Appreciation Day is like a slap in the face. I felt like sending my slice back to them,” she said.
