Hello colleagues,
 
On Wednesday, April 25, your CUTA bargaining met with the District for continued negotiations. This session was different, because we received a refresher training on the interest based bargaining process.
 
Some of you will remember that three years ago, CUTA and CUSD agreed to change from traditional bargaining, sometimes called positional bargaining, to interest based bargaining (IBB). Those of you that have worked in Chico Unified for more than a few years will remember how confrontational our former bargaining relationship was with the District. When we nearly went out on strike three years ago, both sides felt something needed to change, and one of our School Board members suggested we try IBB. Chico Unified had experimented with IBB in the nineties without much success, but CUTA and CUSD were willing to try it again. The results have been very good.
 
Interest based bargaining works when both sides are willing to be open and transparent about their concerns. On any given issue, small or large, both sides develop a list of interests. Generally, we find that we share many of the same interests. We then go through a non-judgmental brainstorming session where we try to come up with many different options for achieving compromise on the issue at hand. We then work hard to clarify and understand the import of the various options. After we have gathered as much information as we can on our various options, we work to achieve consensus through the unanimous agreement of all members on both bargaining teams. Sometimes this process can be very slow, but it has allowed us to be much more open and honest with each other, and IBB is what made this year’s TA possible.
 
Our refresher course on Wednesday was designed to keep us on the right track and provide training for some of the newer members of the bargaining team. We spent the morning reviewing the process and procedures of IBB, and we spent the afternoon practicing IBB on a real issue: return rights. Specifically, we are negotiating whether or not a member has a right to return to their site and/or exact position after a leave of absence. There are various types of leave, and we need to identify which leaves have return rights and which do not, if any. We also need to determine how the length of leave impacts return rights.
 
Other issues we will be discussing in our final two negotiations sessions of the year include, but are not limited to:

• ​Independent study caseloads
• Scheduling changes for secondary RSP teachers
• PD for special education on DWSD
• Classroom coverage for teachers for IEP's during the school day

​Lastly, I want to encourage you to sign up for income protection through the Standard, if you have not already done so. The practice of being able to solicit for donations of sick leave is against IRS rules, and the District will no longer allow the practice. A member could find him or herself in serious financial trouble without this safety net. The District has agreed to continue the current practice of donated sick leave through September 30, which allows members the opportunity to join the Standard during open enrollment, which runs from September 1 through September 30. Much more information about the Standard will be coming from CUTA.
 
Thank you for taking the time to stay informed.
 
Charlie Snyder
Bargaining Chair
Chico Unified Teachers Association

Hello colleagues,
 
We have continued negotiations with the District as we look towards next year. Our interest based bargaining process has allowed us to explore issues throughout the contract, and we have also opened Article 10: Leave for 2018-2019.
 
The first topic we covered on Thursday was return rights. We are exploring contract language that describes how long a member can be on different kinds of leave and still be entitled to return to the same position and assignment. For example, if a person went on medical leave for an entire school year, should they be entitled to their same position and assignment upon return? What if the leave bridged school years? We are gathering information now, and we will continue this discussion in two weeks.
 
We also spent time discussing the District practice of asking for volunteers and/or selecting members to attend elementary professional development during the school day. Teachers are expected to prepare half-day sub plans, and they may or may not have the choice of whether to attend or not. Since this is a relatively new practice, we have agreed to review this topic as issues arise.
 
We again brought up the issue of job sharing at elementary schools. Usually, members want to job share so that they can spend more time with their own children when their children are young. Unfortunately, the District does not want to award elementary job shares at this time. They feel that elementary job shares can result in an inferior educational product, and they have had numerous parents express the desire for their children to not be in a job share classroom. We are still searching for a model that would allay the District’s concerns, but we have not made progress.
 
In addition, we spent time discussing a potential new schedule for secondary RSP teachers at the high schools for next year. We don’t have all of the information yet, but it appears that the District will be removing the assessment/case management prep period from the schedule of secondary RSP teachers and instead asking them to teach in some capacity during that period. Diane Olsen will attend our May 10 negotiations session to explain the new scheduling. We are examining the issue, but until we have a firm grasp on what is being asked of the secondary RSP teachers, we don’t know whether this is a bargainable issue.
 
We also worked on a number of MOUs for 2018-2019, some of which are continuing on from this year. The MOUs include (but are not limited to):

• Class Size MOU: secondary class size is capped at 38, and teachers can voluntarily go over their caseload of 175 and be paid $500 per student, per semester for each student over 175; elementary teachers who are selected involuntarily to go one student over their class size will also receive $500 per semester
• Oak Bridge Online School MOU: this MOU details the hours and caseload for teachers at the new online school that the District is opening in a location at the mall
• K ½ Day MOU: this MOU will say that a K ½ day for purposes of prep or PN/sick days will match the actual time of day as the 1st grade ½ day; these times vary from site to site; if a 1st grade morning ½ day ends at 10:50 am, the K morning ½ day will end at the same time at that site; if a 1st grade afternoon ½ day starts at 11:00 am, the K afternoon ½ day at that site will also begin at 11:00 am; this is to take into account the (roughly) hour long professional work time built into extended day and all-day K schedules; if this doesn’t work at your site, consider a waiver
• Independent Study MOU: we are still finalizing the details of this MOU; the District listened to its teachers and adjusted the caseload and student definitions for traditional independent study, and we will be working out the final details for the online independent study
•  at a future session so that this MOU can continue for 2018-2019

 
Lastly, the District has been informed that the current donated sick leave practice is running afoul of IRS laws. Our lawyer has confirmed this, and we are going to have come up with a new approach. As of now, we don’t have a good idea for how to replace this program. This is potentially dangerous for members. If you were unable to work for an extended period of time and ran out of sick days, you would not be paid.
 
One option is to join the Standard, which is an income protection insurance program of which many of us are currently members. The next open enrollment for the Standard runs from September 1-30, and the District has agreed to extend the donated sick leave program until September 30, which would give members the time to join the Standard and get guaranteed income protection. We will have a lot of information coming out about this program. Please consider buying income protection from the Standard. It ranges from roughly $27-$45/month depending on your income level.
 
Thank you for taking the time to stay informed.
 
Charlie Snyder
Bargaining Chair
Chico Unified Teachers Association