Modesto City Schools contract, calendar remain unsettled

With classes starting less than three weeks from now, Modesto City Schools and its teachers have not settled on a school calendar. The issue took on more significance this year with a union proposal to end spring break’s traditional tie to Easter.

Salary and other issues have not been settled in the annual negotiations. But the calendar discussion is considered separately, and with teachers accepting the status quo for this year, it should be a done deal, said Modesto Teachers Association President Doug Burton.

“This is very bizarre in that they are literally saying they don’t accept that we agree with something they proposed,” Burton said by email Tuesday.

At its June 1 board meeting, the district approved scheduling for July and August, saying until negotiations are settled, trustees would need to approve the calendar month by month. Reached by phone Wednesday, Burton called the move political, saying the district was creating an inconvenience for everyone.

“It is not the teachers that are holding up the calendar. They’re trying to paint us as the bad guys,” Burton said.

In an email Wednesday, the district responded: “We want to assure everyone that Modesto City Schools continues to negotiate with union leadership groups in good faith.

“While we understand that the certificated leadership has shared information regarding the pending issues we are negotiating, we believe the parties’ greatest opportunity to achieve resolution is at the bargaining table,” wrote Craig Rydquist, the district’s head of human resources.

Burton said MTA initially proposed separating spring break from its unspoken connection to Easter. When the district balked, however, MTA agreed to use the traditional calendar the district wanted for 2015-16.

The so-called secular spring break issue will return in negotiations for 2016-17, he said. “Legally, we cannot have a holiday tied to a religious holiday,” Burton said. But by tacit agreement and careful wording, the break always follows Easter. A “floating Friday holiday” would still allow Good Friday to be off by mutual agreement, he said.

Teachers want the switch so there is a more consistent teaching and testing schedule, Burton said. Putting the break two weeks after the semester’s end allows time for grades to be posted, and works better with high school exit exams and Advanced Placement course testing.

“It gives a steady window to administer (state testing) without it floating it around,” he said. “It just would be more beneficial for students.”

For the 2015-16 school year, the switch might not matter. Easter falls on March 27 in 2016, two weeks after the semester should end, based on the 2014-15 calendar. But in 2017, the Christian holiday shifts to April 16.

Still on the table, and by all accounts not even close to a settlement, is the salary issue. Modesto City Schools expects to get nearly $36 million more this year than last because of its high concentration of poor children and English learners. Some 85 percent of its elementary students and 60 percent of its high schoolers qualify for the extra funding.

MTA negotiators were asking for a 9 percent raise. The district countered with 1.8 percent, according to a spring bargaining update sent to MTA members. Since then the numbers have shifted some, but there has been little significant progress, Burton said, declining to give further details.

The district, however, wants to spend that on services and programs for students, according to priorities laid out in its community-advised spending plan.

“We acknowledge that Modesto City Schools has received additional revenues, but this is only part of the equation. Modesto City Schools and union leadership must also consider the funds that are being expended to improve education,” Rydquist said in his email.

“In addition to our interest to increase compensation to attract, retain and train committed, collaborative, caring and exemplary staff for our students, Modesto City Schools has made significant investments to improve the academic and social emotional support structures for our students,” he wrote.

The next negotiating session is set for the last week of August, notes an MTA bargaining update dated Monday.

This story was originally published July 22, 2015 at 10:29 AM with the headline "Modesto City Schools contract, calendar remain unsettled."