Bvsd Negotiated Agreement
The Boulder Valley School District and its teachers` union reached contract negotiations Monday, reaching an agreement in principle on issues such as increases and creating a task force to review the middle school`s growing planning time. The district proposed to extend the same 3% increase in the cost of living to para-educators negotiated by teachers, as well as grant the same single pandemic payment to para-educators in July. Another area of agreement is the creation of a working committee that deals with the hiring and retention of teachers of color. Patty Delgado, vice president of the Boulder Valley Education Association, said all students, not just students of color, benefit from a diverse staff. Boulder Valley uses consensual negotiations in which both parties raise common interests, develop solutions through committees, and then reach an agreement by consensus. The district moved to consensual negotiations in 2012 after years of tough contract negotiations. The most controversial issue was to give college teachers more planning time. Now, secondary school teachers have two planning periods, while secondary school teachers have only one – an inequality that has existed for at least 20 years. Due to schedule changes related to the pandemic, college teachers also didn`t have planning time during the school day this year, which exacerbated the problem… A more cost-effective option, with about $2 million a year, is to hire faculty rather than teachers. They would supervise students during a study room or similar course and give teachers more planning time.
Neither proposal would increase class sizes, but students in the second option would have less class time with teachers. . “We need to value everything that has been done for the students,” said school board president Tina Marquis, expressing support. . At a bargaining meeting Monday, the Para-Educators Association`s bargaining team spoke about the challenges of paying bills in Boulder County with the salary of a para-educator and a high turnover rate caused by low wages. . “I`m very optimistic that throughout our work, we`ll always look at our goal, our students,” said Patty Delgado, elected president of the Boulder Valley Education Association. The 3 percent increase in the cost of living is one percentage point higher than the 2 percent inflation rate the state uses to determine the increase in K-12 funding. Teachers asked about the highest amount and found that they had not received a cost-of-living increase this school year, although those eligible received salary increases for years of experience and the acquisition of graduate degrees. While the district typically extends teacher increases to its other staff groups, the district`s para-educators — who work in classrooms and health care — are also asking to increase starting salaries to $15 an hour and then shift that increase to payroll to reflect years of experience and skills. Bargaining teams plan to continue the discussion next week on para-educator salaries and contract language.
At the same time, a 12-member district-wide working group would make recommendations both on college planning time and on the broader issue of what should be included in college day. The work of the working group would last up to three years. Boulder High Principal James Hill, who is black, added that support to keep teachers of color in the district is essential. . “As a person of color, Boulder is not an easy place,” he said. “You need support.” . . . The Group did not reach consensus on any of these proposals.
Instead, the smaller committee agreed to meet with district leaders to further explore options and get more information about costs. But the group accepted a proposal to create a working group of district administrators and teachers that would look at the college model and what`s essential to college day. Phasing out staff growth over three years was another suggestion. District administrators shared budget and logistical concerns about changing college schedules in the fall, suggesting instead that the district move forward with the task force and re-examine the issue of planning time in a year`s time. Each middle school will have a committee to review changes that would best meet the needs of the school, including hiring more teachers, adding a study room that could be overseen by support staff, or changing the school schedule. Next, members of the teachers` union and school board must vote on the new three-year contract. Topics that still need to be discussed include job security following pandemic-related enrolment losses and the number of cases in special education. The next negotiating meeting will take place in two weeks. .
Bargaining teams in the county and the Boulder Valley Education Association agreed Tuesday that teachers should receive a 3 percent increase in the cost of living plus a one-time bonus next school year — which would likely be extended to all employees. Increasing the number of teachers is proving to be one of the easiest topics to address in this year`s Boulder Valley School District teachers` contract negotiations. Negotiations on teaching contracts in Boulder Valley began with two meetings to decide on issues, followed by smaller committees that develop proposals. The committees are now presenting their proposals. Bonuses paid in July are $500 for each teacher who worked at least some time during the school year, plus another 1% based on the salary earned by the teacher. Teachers responded that college teachers need to see that the district is at least making some progress in addressing the issue. One suggestion was to try a pilot project with the five schools with the best academic performance in the next school year. “This year, we`ve heard from high school teachers time and time again about the workload and pressure of trying to teach 100-minute classes and not allowing time,” said Terri Mulford, president of the Boulder Valley Education Association.
“I`m very worried if we just say we`re going to study it for another year.” “You budget for what you enjoy,” said DeJonee Iarussi, a para-educator at Centaurus High School. “We constantly hear you say that we couldn`t do it without Paras. We don`t see that in the paychecks we take home. The paratroopers are still there. If the teacher needs something, we have it. We know our students like the back of our hand. The association responded with a proposal to increase starting salaries at all levels of the salary plan, which now begins with non-instructive paragraphs at $12.83. Other categories are class paras, health room paras, and special education paras who work with students in intensive programs. County officials noted that none of its current paragraphs fall into the category of non-instructions. As for salaries, bargaining teams have already agreed that teachers should receive a 3% increase in the cost of living plus a one-time bonus in the next school year. More controversial was finding a way to give college teachers more planning time, a topic that occupied most of the five-hour discussion. .
One suggestion was to hire more college teachers and, if possible, move colleges from a day of seven periods to a day of eight periods. This option could allow teachers to teach six out of eight classes and cost about $3.6 million a year. County officials determined that this proposal was too costly. As a compromise, the county agreed to provide a total of $1.1 million to middle schools next school year if they face changes to extend planning time.