Whether you are a newer teacher who hasn’t been with FCUSD for long or you’ve been around forever like me and feel like the timelines for contracts have been shifting around I thought I would summarize where we are right now and how we got here. There are two types of bargaining that your FCEA team engages in throughout the year: (1) CBA/”contract” negotiations where our permanent agreement is changed or improved (i.e. salary, safety). These changes must be voted on by you to take effect (2) MOU negotiations - Mous are temporary or limited in scope agreements such as a pilot program, short term stipend or clarification of existing contract rules. These smaller changes/agreements are not always voted on by full membership depending on their scope. One last word on MOUs. Both the district and FCEA have been writing more MOUs. They are used to allow us to begin piloting programs immediately or to clarify/correct contract language immediately; they often have a sunset date or requirement to seek input and modification in order to continue or become more permanently part of the contract [where they would fall in category 1]. If they are narrow in scope the teachers affected (for example we worked last year on language for alt. Ed sites) are part of the process and included in the conversation.
Last October, the membership ratified the 22-23 contract after we completed compensation negotiations which had been held over from the previous spring. Later in October members were sent a survey which FCEA’s executive board used to provide direction to the bargaining team and then issue a letter also shared via a board meeting to sunshine articles for the 24-25 contract based on the results. We’ve been working on items such as improving safety language and updating teacher evaluations and Deb and the team completed several MOU’s that have been on our webpage. Right now the bargaining team’s priority (and yours too I suspect) is to complete language on compensation and as many of those sunshined items as possible and get a Tentative Agreement (TA) to members for a vote and then repeat the process of surveying/sunsing to open the 24-25 contract. The goal is to start the school year with that year’s contract in place, but the realities of state budgeting have been leading to enough questions that bargaining on compensation has been held up while everyone waits for additional details from the state. When you vote you will be ratifying the 23-24 contract along with any MOU’s that have been completed since the last vote. Going forward when we do begin to work on the 24-25 contract the bargaining team will be looking for teachers with expertise or just passion for articles we sunshine. We will form Article Committees so look for that opportunity to provide direct input into issues of particular importance to you next time we do the member survey.
The bargaining team will post updates on our negotiation sessions on this blog and you will see a bargaining section on the e-newsletter (first issue at the end of August). Our first Bargaining session this year is on August 30th - we are expecting a written offer on compensation from the district so stay tuned for more information. Tracy Suter -Bargaining Chair
Board Bits
The first board meeting of the year was Thursday August 10th (Jeannette’s birthday). To listen to her opening remarks go to ( 33.45 minutes) into the recording. Sean Martin gave a budget update and Don Ogden reviewed HRs efforts to hire and retain staff. Kudos also to our two new student board members Van Merrill (chs) and Matthew Mellijor (vista) who were sworn in at the start of the meeting (6:20).
Next Board meetings: Special Monday session to look at growth/new schools August 21; regular session Thursday August 24. You can find dates and upcoming agendas at : https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/SB_Meetings/SB_MeetingListing.aspx?S=36030240. Video of school board meetings is on their you tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/folsomcordova
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