Teachers, district close to contract agreement

Jennifer K Mahal

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Huntington Beach City School District and its

teachers association reached a tentative contract agreement this week,

ending months of impasse that had the negotiations headed for a state

fact-finding panel.

The two-year collective bargaining agreement between the district and

Huntington Beach Elementary Teachers Assn. negotiators provides for a

salary increase of 1% and a cost of living adjustment for the 1999-2000

school year, retroactive to last July, Assistant Supt. Kathy Kessler

said.

The raise amounts to 4.44% this year. For the 2000-2001 school year,

teachers will also get a cost of living raise, with an additional 1%

added in February 2001. A supplemental retirement package and payment for

the increased cost of health care are also included in the agreement.

“We’re very pleased that the process has worked and is over,” association

President Annette Symons said. “Now we can get back to what we’re here

for, which is educating the kids.”

The agreement must still be ratified by association members and the

school board before it becomes final. Symons, who teaches at Ethel Dwyer

Middle School, said she expects teachers to ratify the contract when they

vote next week.

The association plans to hold a meeting with district teachers Tuesday.

The school board will meet to ratify the contract sometime after the

association vote.

“I am delighted with the agreement,” Supt. Duane Dishno said. “This was a

tough one.”

Association and district representatives have been negotiating since

October. Earlier this month, state officials sent the negotiations to a

fact-finding panel because the two parties could reach an agreement on

salary raises.

The 1% raise for the 2000-2001 school year was not offered by the

district in initial negotiations, and an appointed state mediator failed

to bring both sides together.

However, the district headed back to the negotiating table Monday night

with an acceptable compromise before the fact-finding group could be

impaneled.

Trustee Shirley Carey said even with the impasse, the negotiations have

been a positive experience. But she is happy the bargaining coming to an

end.

“We all want to get done because it makes life much easier,” Carey said.

“I think this is an effective compromise, and I think they’re really

happy.’

Both sides seem especially pleased about the length of the tentative

contract agreement. Most contracts are year to year.

“We spend a lot of time in negotiations,” Dishno said.

This is the first time the teachers have had a two-year contract proposal

in quite a while, Symons said. If the contract is ratified, the teachers

and the district won’t have to return to the bargaining table until

spring 2001.

“I think it’s a fair settlement for the teachers,” trustee Robert Mann

said.

The district’s business manager has assured board members the raises are

affordable in the long term, he added.

“We’re hearing positive things from the governor’s office about funding

for the schools,” Kessler said.

Trustee Brian Rechsteiner said he hopes the financial aspects of the

contract will all work out.

“I think we may have to dig and find the funds,” he said, “but I sure

hope [we can].”