Striking High Desert Teachers OK 20-Day Cooling Off Period

Striking teachers in the Victor Valley School District in San Bernardino County have agreed to return to their classrooms while giving union and district negotiators a 20-day “cooling off” period in which to seek an end to their nine-month-old contract dispute.

The strike, which was called Dec. 3 after negotiations broke down, has affected 360 teachers. The district, which covers Victorville, Hesperia and other small towns in the Mojave Desert about 100 miles east of Los Angeles, continued to conduct classes using substitute teachers.

Under terms of the agreement to get the teachers back to work, negotiations are to take place at least every three days during the 20-day period. If no settlement is reached when the 20 days are up, leaders of the Victor Valley Teachers Assn. said they would call their members out on strike again.

The key issue in the dispute has been the teacher’s demand for third-party binding arbitration as a way of settling personnel grievances. Victor Valley Union High School Supt. William A. Tarr said the district is firmly opposed to that demand.

Other contract issues include teacher salaries and fringe benefits. Scott Davis, chief negotiator for the teachers association, said his members are seeking a 10% salary increase this year, with an 8% increase in the remaining years of the contract. Teachers also are asking the district to return to its past policy of paying all of their health and welfare benefits.

Meanwhile, a parent-teacher group has moved to recall the entire five-person school board that oversees nearly 8,000 students, charging the school board with misuse of district funds and lack of cooperation with teachers and parents.

The recall move, led by the Committee of Educators, Parents and Concerned Citizens, is charging the school board with mismanagement of a $5-million surplus, saying that many students are without textbooks and the library systems at many schools are inadequate.