Bargaining Update

Hello colleagues,

Your CUTA bargaining team and the District met for negotiations on Thursday, April 8. We discussed a wide range of issues, and we reached agreement on one-time compensation for this year. That is the final piece of a tentative agreement (TA) for 2021-22 that has been shared with E-Board for preliminary approval. Pending approval by E-Board of the final TA, membership will have the opportunity to vote on this TA later this month. 

Additionally, I have information to share about the reimbursement of sick days used by members for vaccine reactions. We also made progress updating and clarifying the three MOUs we have in place that govern our three potential instructional models: online-only, AM/PM, and traditional learning with safety protocols. Once these MOUs have been fully updated, we will have a separate membership vote on them so that we will be ready for any eventuality in the fall.

Compensation

CUTA and the District have come to an agreement on one-time compensation this year equivalent to the cost of 2% on the salary schedule. E-Board has directed that this money be divided evenly among all unit members regardless of placement on the salary schedule or FTE. This comes out to roughly $1,750 per unit member before taxes. This is one-time money, not an ongoing raise, in recognition of the fact that the District received no new ongoing dollars this year.

When this proposal was brought to the School Board for approval, the sentiment from the Board was that the employees of Chico Unified deserved recognition and reward for the extremely challenging working conditions over the past year. Although the District has received large amounts of one-time money, almost all of it couldn't be used for compensation, so they will be reaching into their pre-Covid reserves for this one-time payment. CUTA thanks the District for negotiating, and the School Board for approving, a bonus during such complicated times.

This will allow us to wrap up a TA for this year while we continue to work towards a multi-year wage agreement based on a formula acceptable to CUTA and the District. These negotiations will likely take us into the fall.

Tentative Agreement

In addition to the one-time bonus described above, there are several additional items in this TA which I will summarize here. You will receive them in much greater detail in advance of a virtual Q&A session still to be scheduled which will take place before the virtual vote later this month.

• Renumbering the contract: The numbering system in our collective bargaining agreement has become unwieldy and cumbersome; we will be introducing a new, streamlined numbering system
  
• All-day K contract language: The language from the all-day K MOU will be going into the contract with the exceptions listed below
  
• All-day K MOU: Certain non-permanent elements of the all-day K MOU will remain in MOU form; additionally, the District wants to continue negotiating the delayed start language, so that will remain in MOU form for one more year
  
• Article 11 changes: large sections of Article 11: Assignment, Reassignment and Transfer have been rewritten to clarify member rights
  
• Add secondary class size MOU to contract: this would permanently cap secondary max class size at 38 (down from 40) and allow teachers to volunteer to go over the 175 max caseload by up to 5 students for $500 per student, per semester
  
• Add the following language to Article 6: Hours: “The District shall encourage site administrators not to hold staff meetings during weeks when grades are due”
  
• The District will include required time (60 minutes) within the new teacher orientation day for financial training by CUTA (for example, on 403bs)
  
• After School Program coordinators’ work hours will be based on a 7 hour day, so that a 0.6 FTE ASP will work 4.2 hours
  
• Counselor caseload language will change to simply: “Counselor to student ratio is 400 to 1”
  
• Add voluntary transfer MOU: This describes the updated process governing how internal applicants are considered for CUSD jobs before external applicants, and it add a payment of $250 to members if the District fails to follow the process
  

Our goal is to have a final draft of the TA for E-Board to approve in the next week to 10 days, which would be followed by a membership Q&A and a vote in late April. This would allow members to receive the one-time payment before the end of the school year. We will keep you updated.

Sick Leave for Vaccine Reactions

California retroactively modified SB95, which now states that employees don’t have to use their own sick leave if they are absent due to a reaction to the vaccine. If you used a sick day or days due to a vaccine reaction, please email a scanned copy of your vaccination card (to confirm the dates) to Jim Hanlon along with the day(s) you were absent due to a vaccine reaction. The District will reimburse your sick leave.

Fall MOUs for All Potential Instructional Models

To be prepared for anything this fall, we are spending time updating and clarifying the three MOUs we passed this year governing online-only instruction, the AM/PM model, and traditional learning with safety protocols. We will hold a separate membership Q&A and vote to get these MOUs approved before we go on summer vacation.

School Board Decision

As I’m sure you are all aware, the School Board chose not to revisit whether to reopen with all students this year, which means we will stay in the AM/PM model for the remainder of the school year.

I know many of you are feeling frustrated, angry, and sad about the negative perception of teachers being driven by some members of our community. Although I also find that rhetoric hurtful, I believe that most of our students and parents support us and know that we have worked tirelessly and at personal risk to continue educating and caring for the children of Chico Unified. The School Board as a whole and our District partners certainly believe in us and the hard work we do. Most importantly, perhaps, we believe in each other and know that angry words on social media don’t accurately represent our sacrifice this year. Thank you for everything you do for your students every single day.

Thank you also for taking the time to stay informed. Here is a link to our contract.

Thanks,
Charlie Snyder
Bargaining Chair
Chico Unified Teachers Association