Hundreds of Santa Maria elementary teachers rally Wednesday amid contract impasse

May 14—Around 300 teachers in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District rallied outside the district office Wednesday in demand of a fair contract after the state declared an impasse in negotiations between the district and teachers association.

Clad in their blue SMEEA shirts, representing the Santa Maria Elementary Education Association, teachers pushed for the district to reconsider proposals related to salary, workday requirements, release of the association president and the number of district nurses — the last four out of 26 articles in the contract to be finalized.

The association, which represents approximately 900 teachers in the district, requested the declaration of impasse last month after several failed attempts to finalize terms for a new contract since negotiations began in late 2019.

A mediator from the state Public Employment Relations Board will facilitate a discussion around these remaining articles with district and association representatives on May 26, at which time the association hopes to see the district make some allowances.

"Since we're the ones that declared the impasse, that really singles the district out. Our declaration of impasse signals to them that we don't know where else to go," association President Jose Segura said.

Santa Maria-Bonita School District Superintendent Luke Ontiveros did not reply to requests for comment about the scheduled impasse meeting or the rally.

Along with making their voices heard outside the district building, teachers also dominated the public comment period of the district board meeting taking place inside, calling on officials to meet teacher demands for a fair workplace.

Krista Kringel, a teacher at Miller Elementary, said the district should prioritize the hiring of additional nurses, especially in the midst of the pandemic. The association has requested the 10 nurses across the district's 21 schools be increased to two nurses per school site.

"One item we are seeking is having more nurse positions in the district. I would much rather have money spent on having more nurse positions created than on a giant screen in my classroom," Kringel said.

Many teachers also submitted comments related to salary and work hours, criticizing the district's proposal to reduce conference days and remove protections around preparation hours, which teachers claimed would force them to complete additional work outside of their scheduled hours.

"We are worth more than you are offering," said Desirae Felix, a PE teacher at Adam Elementary. "Most of this year and the end of last year have been spent teaching ourselves everything on our own time."

According to Segura, the association's final salary request was for a 4.75% increase, with the option of splitting up the increase over the next two years. The district countered with a 1.5% increase or 2.5% off-schedule increase, if the association also accepted the district's final proposals related to the remaining articles.

Segura called the strings-attached salary proposal untenable.

"The salary [increase], it's something they can afford to do, whether they want to do it or not," he said. "Their proposal tied salary increases directly to other unacceptable proposals."

The May 26 mediator session is scheduled for just one day but could be extended if negotiations take longer, he said.

In the meantime, however, the district could decide to come back to the table and make a new offer.

During public comments, teachers also pushed back against a policy passed this year unrelated to contract negotiations that restricts junior high teachers from teaching full novels in classrooms.

According to the district, the new pacing guide seeks to remove student achievement gaps in reading by assigning shorter reading excerpts instead of full novels. However, teachers say it does students a disservice.

"We junior high ELA teachers are keenly aware of the language skills students need to enter high school," a group of teachers said in a written comment. "Our current curriculum and the rigid, lightning-fast pacing guides we are now mandated to adhere to do not address these skills. Therefore, we are neglecting our duty to teach them and prepare students for the next level."