On Monday, September 25, your LTA Bargaining Team, led by veteran negotiator Lisa Rubio (Huerta) and including Priscilla Avila (Moffett), Justin Catalan (TOSA), Gary Moore (LMS), Jim Nadler (LMS) and Andrew Staiano (CTA staff), met with the LSD team, made up of Hiacynth Martinez (Personnel), Kevin Franklin (Fiscal Services), Eddie Garcia (Pupil Services), Lissett Pichardo (LMS principal) and Steve Andelson (attorney). This was the third meeting between the two teams this negotiations cycle. The district’s bargaining team presented counterproposals to our June 14 and August 15 proposals, and our team responded with counterproposals of their own.

Negotiations are going a little slowly at this point, but not because either side is deliberately wasting time; rather, the teams are discussing fairly complicated contractual language on topics such as the association’s right to communicate with new employees, assignment and transfer procedures and timelines, and the amount of teacher release time for classroom changes. Discussion has been thoughtful and both teams are interested in finding solutions that work for all stakeholders.

On issues with more costs associated, such as including students with IEPs on general ed teachers’ rosters (to hold down class sizes) and parity between class sizes in DL and non-DL classes, the focus has been on educating the district about why our proposals are important to teachers and students alike. While the district has not yet committed to any of our proposals or agreed to spend additional money on class sizes, the district’s team does now seem to understand why we are advocating for changes in how class-size averages are calculated.

Up to this point, discussions around contract language and class sizes have take up all of the negotiation time. The two teams have not yet discussed salary. However, between negotiations sessions, the LTA Bargaining Team has been busy reviewing and analyzing the district’s budget. The district currently has an approximately 6% reserve, which is 3% above the required 3% minimum. Some of that money could be used for salary increases, but adjustments to class sizes would also have to come from the same pool of money. Additionally, uncertainty around the district’s Virtual Academy makes estimating the amount of money the district has available challenging. Students enrolled in the Virtual Academy generate ADA money similar to students physically enrolled in regular Lennox schools. There are expenses associated with the program (computers lent to students, subscriptions to online curricula, stipends to teachers who monitor student progress), but overall the Virtual Academy generates more money for the district than it costs to run, thereby increasing the district’s revenues, and projected Virtual Academy revenues are included in the estimates of a 6% reserve. Unfortunately, in light of questions recently raised about the Virtual Academy, the future of the Virtual Academy is uncertain; the district remains confident that the Virtual Academy meets all state requirements, but if the Virtual Academy were to shut down, that additional revenue would no longer be available for other uses. Given this, it would be imprudent for LTA to reach an agreement with the district on salaries until we have a better idea of how much money will actually be available for the long term. Rest assured, though, that when the Bargaining Team does reach an agreement with the district on salary, it will expect it to be retroactive to July 1 of this year.

 

LSD Most-Recent Counterproposal Highlights:

ARTICLE 3: ASSOCIATION RIGHTS

• District will also provide LTA with new teacher contact information within 30 days of employment.
• District will notify LTA 10 days prior to any scheduled orientation for new teachers, and LTA would be given 30 minutes to meet with prospective new members.

ARTICLE 8: ASSIGNMENTS & TRANSFERS

• District accepts some language clarifications on voluntary, principal-initiated*, and superintendent-initiated* transfers proposed by LTA, but rejects date changes giving teachers earlier notification of new assignments.
• Eliminate the contractual requirement to fly TOSA and certificated administrator vacancies.

ARTICLE 17: PRIOR WRITTEN APPROVAL FOR COURSEWORK

• Modify current practices for requesting prior approval for coursework for advancement on the salary schedule, making the timeline more strict and eliminating retroactive pay adjustments for courses approved after completion.

* Note: principal-initiated and superintendent-initiated transfers already exist in the contract (Articles 8.4.1 and 8.4.2); we are trying to better define the processes.

 

LTA Most-Recent Counterproposal Highlights:

ARTICLE 8: ASSIGNMENTS & TRANSFERS

• Clean up and clarify assignment and transfer definitions.
• Clean up and clarify processes for voluntary, principal-initiated*, and superintendent-initiated* transfers.
• Increase release time given to teachers for room changes, assignment changes, and transfers, adding 1 additional day to each scenario, and permitting (by mutual agreement with principal) paid overtime rather than release time.
• Eliminate “under most circumstances” from language pertaining to flying TOSA and certificated administrator vacancies, requiring the district to fly all such openings.

* Note: principal-initiated and superintendent-initiated transfers already exist in the contract (Articles 8.4.1 and 8.4.2); we are trying to better define the processes.

The two teams are scheduled to meet again on Friday, October 20 to continue exchanging counterproposals and to exchange proposals for salary increases and more costly items like class size. As always, thank you all for your continued patience and support. We appreciate your words of encouragement and all of you who wear your LTA shirts on bargaining days!

 

download Bargaining Update #4

download the full text of the LSD counterporopsals

download the full text of the LTA counterproposals