La Jolla Country Day Teachers Petition to Get Union Recognition

Teachers at La Jolla Country Day School filed a petition Friday with the National Labor Relations Board, asking that their association be recognized as the bargaining agent in contract talks with the school’s management.

A local NLRB official, who asked not to be named, said the petition was filed by a group calling itself the Country Day Teachers Assn., which seeks to represent teachers, aides, librarians and the school nurse. The school has about 75 teachers and has never had a union shop, school officials said.

A source familiar with the petition said the teachers decided to organize partly because of school administrators’ treatment of Sharon Rogers after the March 10 bombing of her van. However, Barbara Judy, the association’s spokeswoman and a kindergarten teacher, refused to confirm that or to say when the organization drive began. Judy said the petition signatures were gathered Wednesday.

Caved In to Terrorists?

Rogers, wife of Navy Capt. Will Rogers III, has said that administrators caved in to terrorism when they pressured her to resign in exchange for a $140,000 settlement after the bombing. Rogers had taught at the school 12 years and was teaching a fourth-grade class when she resigned April 28.

The FBI is investigating the bombing as a possible terrorist reprisal. Capt. Rogers was in command of the guided missile cruiser Vincennes last summer when a missile fired by the ship mistakenly downed an Iranian passenger jet in the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

Mark Saxon, newly elected president of the school’s board of trustees, said he does not believe the union bid is related to the school’s decision not to renew Rogers’ teaching contract.

“There’s been no indication to me there is any relationship,” he said.

Judy refused to publicly discuss Rogers’ firing, saying that “we don’t like to air family disputes.” But, she added, “we certainly know that we have colleagues who are no longer there for various reasons.”

Judy said the teachers’ decision to organize is an attempt to play a greater role in school affairs that directly effect them.

‘Opening Communication’

“We feel that the faculty, speaking together, can have some input in matters that concern them. . . . Some people feel that they are not listened to individually. . . . We feel this (union) is a proper forum by which to address these concerns. It’s a way of opening communication between the board, administrators and the faculty,” Judy said.

Both Judy, who has been a teacher at the school 15 years, and Saxon said that teachers’ unions at independent schools are rare.

“This is not often done in independent schools,” said Judy. “We cherish our parent body and (students) and have very close ties to them. We wouldn’t do this without thinking it over very carefully. We’re all too old to be radicals.”

Saxon estimated that 90% of the nation’s independent schools do not have unions.

The NLRB spokesman said the next step is to send a copy of the petition to the school to confirm the signatures. The petition has to be signed by at least 30% of the eligible membership. The names of those signing and number of signatures are not allowed to be made public.

After the signatures are verified, both sides must meet to work out issues raised by the petition and agree on an election. Disputes will be decided by the NLRB regional director in Los Angeles.

On Friday, Saxon said he had not seen the petition but acknowledged that “there’s been some request about a possible move to have a bargaining representative for the faculty.” He said the board has no position now on unionization.

Times staff writer Richard A. Serrano contributed to this report.