Second Meeting with Bob Bush

Aloha,

On Thursday, May 3rd Pat Brickey, Don Robertson and I met with Bob Bush and Don Nicholson.  We are working towards tenative agreements on a few articles before going to mediation.  The good news is that we are communicating nicely and are meeting again on Tuesday, May 8th.  We will continue to keep you posted on the status of our meetings.  At this time your executive board and negotiating team WILL NOT be organizing picketing at district Open Houses.  We are in the process of putting together an informational flyer for parents and would like to simply pass out flyers at Open Houses as needed.  Your OEA leadership has a fluid plan in place, and is happy to back down when necessary.  Please know that we are working hard to get a fair contract in place for all of our members.

Please join your OEA leadership at the School Board Meeting on Wednesday, May 9th from 6-6:30 pm.  We would appreciate your support!

OEA End of the Year Party is scheduled for Friday, June 1st at 4pm-? at the Foxenwood Clubhouse.  Please mark your calendars as we celebrate our retirees!

Mahalo and have an outstanding weekend!

Meeting with Bob Bush

Aloha,

On Thursday, April 26th Pat Brickey and I  met with Bob Bush and Don Nicholson.  Communication was very positive and it is hopeful that we will be able to work through a few issues before going to mediation.  Your Executive Board and Negotiating Team will be meeting on Tuesday, May 1st to review our position.  Then on Thursday, May 3rd Pat Brickey and I will meet with Bob Bush and Don Nicholson again to see if we can work on a few issues.

Please know that in light of our positive meeting on April 26th OEA DID NOT picket and/or pass out flyers to parents at the Alice Shaw School Open House.  We will keep you posted on any progress that is being made and we appreciate your support!

Mahalo,

Monique

714-9861

Picket Open Houses

Aloha,

On Tuesday, April 24^th your OEA Executive Board and your OEA Negotiating Team met to discuss our next steps in terms of putting pressure on the OUSD Board of Trustees now that we are at impasse.  The bottom line is we need your support!

I will be attending all of the OEA lunches to answer questions and hear about your ideas and/or concerns, but your OEA leadership does have a plan of action in place and we hope that we can count on all of you to join us in some capacity.

On Tuesday, May 1^st we will be meeting at the CTA office (2325 Skyway Dr.) anytime between 3pm-5pm to make posters for picketing and passing out flyers at Open House Nights.

We need as many members as possible at the School Board Meeting on Wednesday, May 9^th from 6pm-6:30pm.  Please meet in the District Office Parking Lot at 6 pm for details.

The district Open House Schedule is:

April 26^th – Alice Shaw (6:15-7 pm)

May 16^th – OAHS

May 22^nd – OAK-8

May 23^rd - LJHS/OJHS

May 24^th – Olga Reed/Pine Grove

May 31^st – Nightingale/Patterson

June 7^th – Dunlap

Please note that you cannot picket and/or pass out flyers at the site which you work.  I will have specific times listed as we get closer.  Alice Shaw’s Open House is fast approaching please email (mseguraoea@yahoo.com) or call (714-9861) if you are able to assist us this Thursday!  We need you from 6:15-7 pm.

Declared Impasse

Aloha,

On April 19th your negotiations team met with the district.  We were anxiously awaiting responses from the district on 5 proposals.  We received a partial proposal to one article and the district responded that they had no other responses for us.  At that point we knew it did not make sense to bargain against ourselves.  Therefore, OEA and the district jointly declared impasse. Your Negotiations Team has put together a status report for the Orcutt Educators' Association.  As always please let me know if you have any questions and/or concerns.

OEA Outstanding Bargaining Issues

Article I/XVII (Employment Rights of All Bargaining Unit Members)

Our position:

(Article I – Designation of Parties and Agreement)All Bargaining Unit Members should have the same rights regarding discipline, dismissal, lay-off and recall. The Association is willing to negotiate language that allows the Charter portion of the District to operate in a way that preserves the unique nature of the program, and yet it cannot accept a system in which employees doing the same job next door to each other have drastically different employment rights.

The District position:

(Article XVII[new] – Discipline/Lay-off for Charter Teachers) Except for teachers who transfer from the regular district schools, which the District proposed to allow to have full rights in perpetuity, Charter teachers would have no discipline, dismissal or lay-off rights as found in the Education Code. The District, by majority vote of the school board, would be able to discipline or fire any charter teacher in any year for any reason the school board finds acceptable. Charter teachers, if they are laid off, should have no guaranteed right to future employment if it becomes available, unless the individual was a teacher in a non-charter school previously. Charter teachers, during their first two years of employment, could be summarily fired “at any time with or without cause.”

Article V (Transfer and Reassignment)

Our position:

“All transfers and reassignments within the Charter School shall be at the discretion of the Charter School administration.” We would allow the District to control positions at the Charter school, the only real difference between our positions is that the Association proposal would have allowed K-8 Charter teachers to transfer into open K-8 positions in the non-Charter schools, with the same rights as other K-8 teachers. Once a seniority date is established, that date would stay with the member in either a Charter or non-Charter assignment. The Association has agreed to allow the District to treat the Charter and non-Charter teachers as if they were on two seniority lists.

The District position:

None of the current transfer and reassignment language would apply to Charter teachers.

Article VIII (Class Size)

Our position:

Class size should be limited to 29 students, including Special Education caseloads. If the District goes above 29, the District has the option to hire more teachers to reduce class size or to compensate those teachers who have larger class size. Class size in P.E. classes would be limited to 50. Speech specialists would have their caseloads limited to SELPA standards. Teachers of combination classes would receive a stipend. Teachers of inclusion or special education students in a regular class would receive a stipend. All K-6 teachers (and all teachers at K-8 schools) including special education teachers and speech therapists would receive a full-day release for each grading period and the equivalent of an hour a week of preparation time (as is provided currently for grade 4-6 teachers).

The District position:

If class size reaches 33, the teacher may choose between two hours a week of assistance or a stipend. They would eliminate the full-day release per grading period and the hour-a-week equivalent of preparation time for all teachers. The also proposed, “It is the goal of the Charter High School to maintain class sizes which will be conducive to attracting students and which are smaller than other area public high schools.”

Article IX (Working Days and Hours)

Our position:

Continue the practice of allowing Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten teachers to use two of their work days to interview and place students before the school year begins. Teachers at the 7-12 levels who substitute during their planning time would be compensated at $30 per hour and they can be trusted to complete the planning they missed at their discretion. Any extra duties authorized by the District would be compensated at $45 per hour.

The District position:

The practice of interviewing Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten students before the year begins would not be guaranteed. If it were authorized by the District, the teachers would be paid at below their regular rate. (The Association position – which has been in practice for more than 20 years -- actually costs less than the District position.) Teachers at the 7-12 levels who substitute during their planning time would be compensated at $30 per hour and they would be required to remain on campus for an additional hour after school. Any extra duties would be compensated at $30 per hour.

Article X (Compensation)

Our position:

Total Unrestricted Fund Balance (Funds 1 and 17) are funds that the District can use for any purpose. As you can see in the chart below, according to the District’s annual year-end reporting to the state, the Orcutt Union School District has ended each year since 2006-07 with more money in the bank, despite all of the financial troubles experienced here in California. That figure of $6.19 million was equal to more than 20 percent of the District’s total spending in 2010-11. It should also be noted that the District will see its Base Revenue Limit increased by an additional $144 per student next year due to the addition of Olga Reed Elementary School to the District.

The Association proposed that the District use some of that savings to provide teachers with a modest compensation increase, justified by the increased burden they have suffered due to increasing class sizes and the burdens placed on them by other cuts, and to continue the practice of splitting increases in the cost of health and welfare benefits. The Association also proposed language that would tie future increases in pay to increased funding from the State of California.

The District position:

No increase in salary and a continuation of the split in health and welfare cost increases only if the Association agreed to a cap on future health and welfare costs to the District. At the bargaining table on April 19^th, the District’s attorney said the offer was worth $400,000, which we believe is a gross overstatement. On its website later that day, that figure had grown to $900,000. We look forward to hearing the District’s justification of this number.

Early Retirement Incentive:

Our position:

The Association proposed an early retirement incentive like those used by many nearby districts to reduce their long-term expenses.

The District position:

The District refused to propose any early retirement incentive.

Mahalo,

Monique

714-9861

Negotiations Update

On March 20, 2012, the district posted its latest Negotiations Update.  Upon further analysis, additional information must be brought forth concerning their statements.

District:  The district is proposing that instead of using Education Code language for dismissal, which makes it difficult to remove underperforming teachers because the process involves months of legal wrangling by the principal, the school board, the union, and the courts, the Academy educators be given the same due process procedures that most professional organizations have, including doctors, nurses, firefighters, etc.  This may not be equal to Education Code that the Orcutt educators presently have, but it is fair and it is right for children.

Clarification:  When firefighters, etc. go through their process, the final determination concerning termination comes from an impartial public board.  What our school board conveniently leaves out of this proposal is that they will be able to reject the final decision of the impartial board and three (a majority) of them can make their own, final decision to terminate.

District:  Charter schools are funded differently with a separate pot of money.

Clarification:  The state considers us one district, sends us one check, and then the charter must pay the district back for rent and other supplies.  According to Mr. Bush, this rent is currently $500,000 and will rise to $1,000,000 very soon.

District:  Charter schools are schools of choice.  In other words, they have to compete for students.

Clarification:  This is true but incomplete.  Part of an Academy’s teacher’s job is to recruit students.  In fact, the Academy’s Charter even states that the teachers are expected to recruit students from within the OUSD itself!  The school board also made the decision to discriminate against children by only allowing those with a 2.0 g. p. a. to become students at the charter high school.

District:  Charter Schools have to adhere to what is written in their charter and five-year plan.

Clarification:  True but incomplete.  The Board can call a meeting after proper notice and change the charter and five year plan whenever they want.  This has already taken place evidenced by the elimination of the International Baccalaureate program.

District:  Charter teachers have the same pay schedule, benefits, and belong to the same union.

Clarification:  This did not officially become part of the contract until the PERB board ruled twice in favor of OEA’s position and against the school board.

Negotiations Update

Aloha,

I just wanted to thank all of you who came out last Wednesday and supported "Equal Employment Rights For all Teachers".  We had a great turnout with a positive message!  Please keep sending letters and emails to your School Board Members.

OEA has approved a $1000 Scholarship for a graduating Senior at the Orcutt Academy High School this year.  We are also looking to add another Scholarship for a graduating Senior who is a dependent of an OEA member for next year.  Thank you for the input I received from our members on this issue.

Our next negotiating session is scheduled for Tuesday, April 3rd.  We are still working on Class Size, Working Days and Hours, and Compensation.  We have already made Tentative Agreements regarding Term, Sabbatical Leave, Compensation (Coverage of 2011-2012 Premium Increases for health, vision and dental benefits only), Organizational Rights, Peer Assistance and Review (PAR), Safety, and Completion of Meet and Negotiate.  Please see OEA's responses to "The update for the Orcutt community on the District's proposal regarding Dismissal Rights for Charter Teachers".

Mahalo!

Negotiations Update

Please review the following updates from you OEA Executive Board:

1.  On Monday, March 12, 2012 your negotiating team will be back at the table.  We have been able to make Tenative Agreements on a few items.  We are still working hard on Class Size, Compensation, and Employment Equality for all members.

2.  Please join our Poster Crew on Tuesday, March 13th at the CTA office (2325 Skyway Dr.)  We will be preparing for the Wednesday, March 14th School Board Meeting.

3.  Please join us in the parking lot of the District Office on Wednesday, March 14th at 5:45 pm.  Please wear your "Equity Now" buttons and your "We Are One" t-shirts and buttons if you still have them.  I will have the posters from our poster crew if you would like to have one.  We are very fortunate to have the support of our neighboring districts.

4.  We would like to explain the Employment Equality Issue:
            a.  The state Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) agreed in June 2011 that charter teachers would automatically become members of OEA.  Because Orcutt Academy is a charter school OEA has to negotiate their Employment Rights.
            b.  Non-Charter School employees are protected by Ed. Code in terms of discipline, dismissal, rehire, and Reduction In Force...OEA feels as though all teachers in the Orcutt Union School District should enjoy these same Ed. Code rights.
            c.  There are 5 other districts in the State of California like Orcutt that have started a K-12 Charter and they have allowed all members to have the same Employment Rights...even the model Orcutt used for their Charter (Lennox) allows all of their teachers to enjoy the same Employment Rights.

5.  How does the Employment Equality Issue affect all Teachers:
            a.  Right now there are teachers that are on leave from the district, but they are actually working in the district at the charter school.  Having teachers on leave causes temporary teachers to be unable to gain permanency.
            b.  There are district transfers (with Ed. Code Protection) working next door to direct charter hires (without Ed. Code Protection) at Orcutt Academy High School.  This is discriminating against one group of teachers and may not be conducive to a healthy working environment if this gets challenged.
            c.  The K-8 Charter School competes for students not only from surrounding districts, but from our very own district.  The School Site Plan at OAK-8 says they would like to see the K-8 grow.  It is important to note that there is a waiting list of approximately 150 students at OAK-8.  What is stopping the district from growing the K-8 charter at a site with empty classrooms.  This would decline the districts' regular enrollment and increase the charter enrollment.  
            d.  A decline in the regular enrollment would mean pink slips for teachers.  An increase in the charter enrollment would mean hiring more charter school teachers, which may or may not be from the pool of pink slipped teachers (it depends on an interview process).  Now look 10 years down the road if this trend continues in our district...especially if we do not all have the same Employment Rights. This is something all teachers should be concerned about!

Please feel free to contact OEA with any questions and/or concerns!

Mahalo!