MOORPARK : Mediation Sought in Contract Talks

Contract negotiations between the Moorpark teachers union and the school district have broken down, with union officials calling for the state to mediate the dispute.

The Moorpark Education Assn. declared an impasse just before Thanksgiving and has referred the matter to the California Public Employment Relations Board, said Richard Gillis, the union president.

If the state board certifies the impasse, a mediator will be assigned to work with the two parties.

Gillis said the negotiations broke down when the financially strapped district balked at giving a 1% raise to the district’s 250 teachers.

The teachers have worked without a contract for two years and, although they receive regularly scheduled salary increases based on the number of years they have worked, teachers have not had a cost-of-living raise since 1990.

While school board members have pledged support for salary increases, district officials have said they cannot offer a raise. They have offered to set up a committee to find additional sources of revenue, said Thomas Duffy, district superintendent.

Several measures have been discussed to find money to increase salaries, including using lottery revenue or cutting back on the district’s non-teaching staff, but no specific offers have been made to teachers, Gillis said.