Desert Sands Unified to raise teacher pay, hire more counselors under new contract

Desert Sands Unified School District has updated its contract with the teachers' union — raising educators' salaries by 6.78% this school year, retroactive to July 1, 2023. (The highest salary will now be $131,140.)

The negotiated package also includes a one-time bonus of $900, an increase to the medical benefit cap and miscellaneous other increases that relate to the articles decided upon between the teachers' union and the school district in the contract re-opener agreement.

Here's what else was updated.

Increased flexibility with teachers' collaboration time

Every week, school sites have a day in which students start class at a later time or are released early so that teachers can collaborate with their colleagues on how to implement methods that will improve and increase students' academic achievement and performance.

"We got a little bit more language that allows for some flexibility and what teachers can use that time for," said Trina Gonzales-Alesi, president of Desert Sands Teachers' Association. "It doesn't have to be all academic focused. We can also talk about the whole student: social-emotional needs, behaviors and attendance intervention. Those are all new."

This is important to note, she said, because student wellness and behaviors impact their learning and now teachers can use their professional expertise to dive into those correlations.

"I think what happened over the years was that there was a more narrow scope for some administrators in terms of how (teachers) might utilize their (collaborative time)," said Joe Hyde, assistant superintendent of personnel services. "This language just expands and gives them more freedom in tackling some of those issues and topics in a collaborative manner. It's still going to lead to improve student outcomes."

Student discipline policies will be required

All 34 schools will need to develop a comprehensive student discipline policy, which will include: standards of expected student behavior, handling of referrals and suspensions, as well as procedures for referrals to the school board for expulsion.

While the district is well-known for allowing each school site to develop their own culture and procedures, on this topic, Gonzales-Alesi said she expects uniformity by next school year: "You run into equity issues from the employees that work for the same school district."

The inclusion of Ed Code language — a collection of laws directly related to California's K-12 public schools — that relates to student discipline were added to the contract to reinforce the notion that teachers can uphold the law if they wish.

For example, a teacher can suspend a student from class "for the day of the suspension and the day following" if they commit a violent crime, possess drugs or weapons, behave obscenely, threaten to cause physical harm or damage school property. A parent-teacher conference would subsequently follow. Injuries and damages caused willfully by students can also be reported to law enforcement.

"We have some sites where ... it's really impeding the ability for district and site staff to do their jobs," Gonzales-Alesi said, "and it's interfering with the learning of students who are there to actually learn."

Concerns about student behavior, she said, are not unique to one grade level or another.

Hyde said that what emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic were notable social-emotional and behavioral issues among students when they returned to a traditional school setting.

“It's presented staff members with challenges in terms of how (they can) approach (student discipline) in a meaningful manner," he said. "I think the new language provides both administrators and (educators) with a clear standard and articulation of how we handle these situations and how is that going to best support (teachers’ duties)."

Recruitment incentive for veteran educators

If a veteran educator from outside of the district is hired at DSUSD, the district will honor up to 18 creditable years of prior public school teaching for purposes of salary schedule placement. Previously, 10 years were granted.

"If I have a teacher who wants to retire to the desert, but maybe they have eight or nine years left (of teaching before retiring) but they’ve already put in 25 or 26 years, they’re not going to have to take a cut anymore," Hyde said. "It’s a huge financial incentive in terms of allowing the district to hire the most experienced, qualified and frankly, talented teachers — and that’s going to be a net benefit for our students.”

Counselor caseload will be lightened at elementary schools

Gonzales-Alesi said that for many years, they have been struggling with elementary school counselors who are overwhelmed with high student caseloads.

"You take a site like (Herbert) Hoover Elementary (in Indio) that has a very low student population and they have one elementary counselor," she said. "Then you go to (Amelia) Earhart Elementary (in Indio) or (Ronald) Reagan Elementary (in Palm Desert) that have huge student populations, and they also have one elementary school counselor."

Now that they've negotiated a ratio of one counselor for every 700 students, four additional elementary counselors will be hired — "something we're very excited about," she said.

Updating bereavement leave and teacher attendance expectations

The district also updated its legacy language to reflect changes in law, such as ensuring that educators are entitled up to five days — previously four days — of bereavement leave with pay.

"There's a law that passed on (Jan. 1, 2023) that afforded more leave opportunities (for bereavement)," Hyde said. "We took a proactive approach and really want to be sensitive to all of our unit members, especially if they're dealing with the death of an immediate family member ... It's really in the spirit of mutual interest."

New language was also added to specify that educators are required to arrive promptly at their designated school sites during their contracted work hours. Of course, teachers may provide advance notice in case there are circumstances beyond their control, but repeated failure may result in disciplinary action.

When there are unfilled teacher absences, particularly as substitute teachers are shared between neighboring school districts, Hyde said that attendance language was a subject the district wanted to highlight to "send home the importance of (coming to work every day and on time)."

Jennifer Cortez covers education in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at jennifer.cortez@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: DSUSD to raise teacher pay, hire more counselors under new contract