Teachers to Receive 8% Salary Increase

The Conejo Valley Unified School District board has formally approved salary increases for teachers and other district employees for the current school year.

On Tuesday, the board unanimously agreed to a 6% raise retroactive to August, and an additional 4% raise effective Feb. 1. Because the second raise covers only half of the school year, the overall pay increase for teachers for the year is 8.12%.

Similar raises were also approved for district managers, counselors and administrative employees not covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

In an effort to reduce the weight of students’ backpacks, the board tentatively approved purchasing a duplicate set of textbooks for exclusive classroom use in the middle schools.

With final approval, the district will phase in the program, starting with the purchase of social science textbooks at a cost of $88,000 for the four middle school campuses. District officials expect those textbooks to be in the classroom by the end of January.

Purchases of textbooks for science, math and English will be staggered through the 2003-2004 school year.

“It’s a hard thing to argue against when you see those little kids with their big backpacks,” said Chuck Eklund, director of secondary education.