La Cañada Unified reaches tentative deal with teachers on salary increase
The La Cañada Unified School District has reached a tentative agreement with its teachers union that would include a 4.25% salary increase retroactive to the beginning of this school year and a new salary schedule to go into effect July 1.
The restructured salary schedule in the new agreement includes an overall increase of 5.28% in teacher salary expenditures, according to a May 25 statement issued by LCUSD Supt. Wendy Sinnette. The highest earnable base salary in the new chart will be $98,725, up from $90,720 as outlined in the previous schedule.
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Additionally, teachers will get raises across the board as they gain experience and seniority, with those increases topping out after 24 years of tenure. Under the previous schedule, teachers with 15 years experience or more saw raises only every five years.
“I would like to thank the governing board for their guidance and stewardship which has allowed a tentative agreement to be reached,” Sinnette said in the statement.
La Cañada Teachers Assn. President Mandy Redfern said in an email Wednesday morning that a simple majority vote of union members was required for passage. While voting would continue through that day, the tentative agreement was passing so far, with 96% approval, she said.
“We are very proud of the hard work of everyone who played a role in this process and are thankful we found a solution that is fair and honors the hard work of La Cañada’s educators,” Redfern said.
The estimated cost of the salary schedule upgrade comes to about $1 million in ongoing expenditures. In a follow-up press release issued this week, Sinnette said it was deemed financially achievable only after the district “surgically readdressed our budget assumptions and future expenditures.”
In a special May 26 board meeting, convened to discuss and vote on a K-6 Common Core math curriculum, LCTA representative Tracey Calhoun took advantage of a public comment period to thank the district for listening and helping reach an agreement before the end of the school year.
“Both sides at the table had to sacrifice assumptions and make compromises on interests to reach this agreement,” she said, indicating that officials reduced the district’s reserve fund and the number of teachers on special assignment, in addition to reexamining a professional development agreement decried by some educators in previous meetings as too costly and ineffective.
“When we work together, we work best,” Calhoun added.
Board Vice President Dan Jeffries, who presided over the special meeting in President David Sagal’s absence, said the two parties spent a total of 90 hours over the course of 14 bargaining sessions trying to reach consensus.
“Thank you for your work,” Jeffries addressed union reps and district officials at last week’s meeting. “We often say here that great schools begin with great teachers and we hope that our actions resolving this matter … speak of the deep respect and admiration we have for our teachers.”
The school board will be presented with the tentative agreement for ratification at its next regularly scheduled meeting June 14.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
