Eleven San Benito High School teachers, frustrated after working
for more than a year and a half without a contract, urged the
school board Wednesday to
”
stop playing games
”
and hasten lagging contract negotiations.
Hollister – Eleven San Benito High School teachers, frustrated after working for more than a year and a half without a contract, urged the school board Wednesday to “stop playing games” and hasten lagging contract negotiations.
“I’m disappointed in the district for trying to strong-arm good teachers into a bad contract. If you wish to trim the fat, please start upstairs,” veteran teacher Mario Ferrito told board members, referring to the second floor administrative staff offices.
Superintendent Jean Burns Slater said she was glad the board was able to hear about the negotiations directly from the teachers, but could not respond to Ferrito’s comment.
“I’d be glad to respond if he could give some specifics to respond to,” she said.
Teachers, starting with Hollister City Councilman Doug Emerson, addressed the board during the public comments period of the meeting. Emerson, who started teaching at San Benito High School in August, prodded board members to work with teachers to secure a fair contract.
“I really believe in the classroom teacher,” Emerson said. “I’m a member of the CTA (the California Teachers Association), but I really want to keep that separate from my role as a city councilman.”
Several teachers expressed frustration at the slow pace of the negotiations and concern about the possibility of benefits being cut. Slater said the district has never tried to cut benefits.
“We have had some very fair, rich offers back in June,” she said. “I’d like to speed up the process, but we need help from the teachers.”
Slater suggested that union officials focus on communication between their negotiations team and their rank and file members.
“I don’t think those people who were speaking knew what the offer was in June,” Slater said. “The teachers need to reach some conclusions that are factual. I don’t understand why they think that we’re cutting benefits.”
In June, the district proposed that teachers contribute to health insurance plans but did not propose to cut benefits, Slater said. Teachers held protests that month over the lack of progress in the talks.
Union officials had requested teachers attend Wednesday’s meeting and to speak during the public comments period, if they felt so inclined, SBHS California Teachers Association President Chuck Schallhorn said Thursday.
“The primary purpose was to let board members know how we feel directly,” Schallhorn said. “Everybody who spoke, spoke from the heart. I think definitely that our point was made and understood clearly.”
After the meeting concluded, board members went into closed session to talk about the status of negotiations and the issues raised by teachers during the meeting, Board of Trustees member Bill Tiffany said.
“That was the first time that we heard directly from those teachers who choose to speak last night,” Tiffany said. “I think they are disappointed that a contract hasn’t been worked out and I don’t blame them.”
Like many teachers and administrators, Tiffany said the board hopes a contract agreement can be reached quickly.
Wednesday was the first time teachers had planned to speak at a board meeting specifically about negotiations, but Schallhorn said it wouldn’t be the last.
“We’ll continue it as long as we need to,” he said. “There is a lot of frustration.”
Talks between teachers and the district halted in late June when Balfour declared the two sides had reached an impasse. Negotiations had stalled over health benefits.
Balfour planned to file paper work with the Public Employment Relations Board in June in order to get a state mediator to oversee further negotiations, but after conversations in July between Schallhorn and Slater, both sides agreed that the impasse declaration was unnecessary and returned to the bargaining table in August.
Two weeks ago, teachers submitted a contract proposal requesting scheduled pay raises, which they haven’t had for three years, and asked the district to maintain current health benefit plans at no additional cost to the teachers.
District officials didn’t reject the proposal, but delayed a counteroffer in order to get a clearer picture of the district’s financial status, Chief District Negotiator Don Balfour said last week. Balfour and Superintendent Slater both said the district cannot afford the proposal.
More recently, teachers filed an unfair labor practices charge against the district for changing the school schedule and the teachers’ hours without getting approval from the union.
Negotiations were scheduled to resume Thursday night, but with Jim Koeing, the district’s chief business officer, in the hospital, Schallhorn wasn’t sure if the two sides would talk money, or simply focus on contract language issues.
As negotiations between the two sides continue to crawl forward, students continue to lose interest in the proceedings, said Stefany James, the students’ liaison to the board.
“Students really weren’t aware of what was going on until this fall,” James said. “When teachers started protesting, students started asking questions. Some were proud of the teachers for protesting, even if they didn’t know what the protests were about.”
Since the June protests, student discussion has died down, James said, although some students, especially those close to their teachers, continue to follow the negotiations.
Brett Rowland covers education for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or
br******@fr***********.com
