Ramona School Board OKs Resolution Prepping for Teachers Strike

The leader of the Ramona teachers union said she was taken aback by school board action Monday to prepare for a strike, telling U-T San Diego: “We’re not even in the process of taking a strike vote.”

Donna Braye-Romero, president of the Ramona Teachers Association, responded to an “emergency resolution” [attached as PDF] laying out a plan for keeping the schools going.

“We are still hoping that the teachers and the district can come to a negotiated settlement,” Superintendent Robert Graeff told the U-T. “But if not, our schools will be open and safe during a strike.”

According to the board agenda: “The absence of a large number of employees from the district or from any work site could potentially jeopardize the safety and security of students and cause a breakdown in the educational program—constituting an emergency.”

The 2,500-word resolution cited “statements reported by print media on January 24, 2013; February 21, 2013; and February 28, 2013, [that] there is a good faith belief by this board that representatives and unit members in the certificated bargaining unit represented by the Ramona Teachers Association are considering the possibility of calling a strike due to their dissatisfaction with the progress of collective bargaining negotiations.”

The board authorized the district to take actions including:

• Letting the superintendent “close a school or schools, modify school schedules, cancel or modify specific educational programs or courses and cancel or postpone any extracurricular activities.”
• Stipulating that all student grades given during the emergency will stand as recorded and will not be made up or modified at the end of the emergency.
• Not letting an employee be allowed to use sick leave, personal necessity, or other authorized leaves when it is apparent that the employee is participating or participated in any concerted refusal to work for that period.
• Suspending pay to any district employee unless top officials are satisfied that the employee has faithfully performed all of his or her prescribed duties.
• Stipulating that district employees who take personal necessity or emergency leaves … may be required to file with the board satisfactory evidence of entitlement to such leave.
• Suspending all vacations and professional leaves except by special authorization of the superintendent or his designee.
• Authorizing the superintendent to employ emergency substitute employees and independent contractors [at a rate] not exceeding $275 per day.

The Ramona Sentinel reported that, while details of negotiations are confidential, the district’s “latest and best” public offer to the teachers is an 8 percent cut this school year and a 9.5 percent cut the following two years.

“Teachers union representatives have said the district rejected a 4.5 percent cut the union proposed,” the Sentinel reported. “The teachers have options for compensation cuts such as salary, paying a portion of the health benefit package the district now pays for entirely, and a reduced school year.”