Huntington Beach : School District Reaches Accord With Teachers

The Huntington Beach Union High School District and its 700 teachers have tentatively agreed on a new contract, culminating 18 months of sometimes bitter negotiations, Supt. Marie Otto said in a statement Friday.

The statement said the agreement was reached at 3 a.m. Thursday following a marathon bargaining session.

The superintendent said terms of the agreement will not be released until the teachers and the board of trustees ratify the new proposal. A special board meeting was called for 7 p.m. Monday in order to ratify the agreement.

Otto’s statement said the tentative settlement carried “the full recommendation of both bargaining committees.”

The teachers had bitterly protested throughout the negotiations the school district’s offer of a 3% pay increase, retroactive to the 1984-85 school year. The previous year, the teachers had received a 6% salary raise, but school officials said the smaller pay hike was justified because the district had lost 400 students this year.

During the negotiations last May, about 200 teachers protested the district’s “last and final offer” of the 3% salary increase by staging a sick-out protest.