With union contract negotiations unresolved, Palo Alto Educators Association members plan to speak at tonight’s Palo Alto Unified School District board meeting, following recent decisions to reallocate positions at elementary and high schools.
Negotiations between the district and the union are still ongoing. The district is also reviewing the roles of specialist teachers at elementary schools and the copy technician position at both Palo Alto and Gunn High School.
According to PAUSD Superintendent Don Austin, the teachers’ union is also requesting changes to compensation.
“PAEA has a request for an additional 28% compensation, which includes salary, benefits and contract language with expenses,” Austin said in an email with The Paly Voice.
PAEA president Tom Culbertson said that teachers were not consulted about the role removals and changes and expressed concern that the changes could negatively affect instructional time.
“We, the educators in elementary schools particularly, are deeply concerned that really vulnerable kids are just not going to get that really effective help that they really need,” Culbertson said. “Both of these decisions [the reallocation of specialist teachers and copy technicians] were not made with any input from educators or the public or the school board.”
According to Culbertson the copier tech is one of those behind-the-scenes investments that can quietly determine how smoothly a school day runs
“In terms of this copier tech, this is one of those situations where this is a kind of invisible thing that really makes the schools run so much better, and it seems kind of inconsequential but it adds this tremendous value for educators.”
According to Culbertson, the PAEA’s presence at the board meeting is driven by the union members.
“These [PAEA members] are the authentic voices of educators advocating for what they think is right for students,” Culbertson said. “So, the objective [for the board meeting] is to advocate [for] better governance or transparency and to have a voice in making these really important decisions about how students are educated.”
Austin said the district’s elementary changes do not involve staff reductions and instead reflect an instructional restructuring shaped by district leadership and elementary principals in line with Multi-Tiered System of Supports priorities.
“There is no elimination of employees at the elementary level,” Austin said in an email with The Paly Voice. “There is a programmatic shift that came forward through Educational Services and our 12 elementary principals. It is consistent with our investment in MTSS.”
According to Culbertson, student participation at the board meeting will reinforce the importance of these educational positions across the school district.
“The really powerful thing for students is to talk about the impact, especially, high school students,” Culbertson said. “I would tell them [high school students] to think back to those years when you were in an elementary school, and you needed a little extra help from a specialist. A lot of kids get extra help. Think about the impact that had on your life, and how that changed the course of your education. Think about what that would have been like if you didn’t get that intervention,”
In an email response, PAUSD lead negotiator Trent Bahadursingh and MTSS organizer Guillermo Lopez, both assistant superintendents, outlined the district’s rationale for changes to the copy technician positions and addressed the status of ongoing negotiations:
“The district has invested heavily in technology solutions for delivery of content and materials. Every teacher is provided with a MacBook, every student a Chromebook and the district has multiple electronic delivery platforms. The district has a Print Shop that is able to provide services for schools. The continued high volume use of paper materials does not align with sustainability concerns from stakeholders. This position [copier] is only at the two comprehensive high schools.”
Their response continued:
“The district will continue to work through the collective bargaining process. It is unfortunate that the PAEA President stated that he wanted negotiations to be difficult. The district does not believe that is necessary and will continue to work towards a reasonable settlement.
Regarding CSEA [California School Employees Association], they said they wanted to go fast and hoped for a quick resolution. Unfortunately, that has not happened. CSEA canceled the most recent session and no further dates have been calendared.”
Culbertson said that the one of the main objectives of the board meeting is to advocate for the teacher’s union being more involved in these changes.
“Educators would love to solve big problems like this when presented with them,” Culbertson said. “We were never even part of this [decision]. This is just something that has been imposed on us. I think when you involve the public, the practitioners and educators, that solutions are stronger and better.”
