Schools

Ramona Teachers Union Uncertain on Strike Authorization Vote

School board votes to approve the public release of a fact-finding report, which backs the district.

Ramona teachers were conflicted Tuesday over whether to take a strike vote in the wake of a jampacked school board meeting that discussed a fact-finding report on district finances.

Donna Braye-Romero, president of the Ramona Teachers Association, said the union is “not in a position to strike” and no strike-authorization vote has been scheduled.

The Ramona Unified School District board voted Tuesday night to approve the public release of a fact-finding report. Schools Superintendent Robert Graeff summarized the findings.

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The report found that the district’s budget numbers and history of budget projections were “completely validated” and recommends a model for a three-year settlement between the district and the RTA. 

Bonnie Prouty Castrey of Huntington Beach, chair of the three-person fact-finding panel, concluded that the “district meets its heavy burden of proof and does have an inability to continue to pay personnel costs including salaries and benefits at the current levels.” 

Find out what's happening in Ramonawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Other members of the panel, which met in late February, were John Gray, president of Sacramento-based School Services of California, and Margaret Wallace of the California Teachers Association.

Gray was chosen by the district and Wallace by the teachers union. Gray concurred with all of Castrey’s recommendations, while Wallace dissented in part, according to the report.

The Ramona Teachers Association rallied in front of the Wilson Administration Center Tuesday evening to reiterate how important the local educators are to the children in the community.

The teachers union, however, seeks a one-year agreement. Both parties met Monday to negotiate, but an agreement was not reached.

See also:

See also: Schools Chief: ‘Very Disappointed’ In Lack of Progress in Labor Talks

Holding signs with phrases like “Your Children Deserve the Best,” “School Board Should Work With Teachers—Not Against Them” and “We Don’t Want To, But We Will,” teachers in the district suggested a possible strike if the board didn’t meet their demands.

Parents of athletes and young children addressed the board during public comment, asking questions about truancy laws and possible missed collegiate sports opportunities.

“My kids will not cross the strike line,” said a mother of three children in Ramona schools. “They deserve to sit down with qualified and dedicated teachers. You are ripping our community apart.”

Ramona resident Michael Workman said he’s been struggling with the decision to take his kids out of school under the event of a strike, noting that he’s leaning toward keeping his kids in school if that’s what’s best for his children.

“My number one concern is for my children. They belong in school, learning,” Workman said via email. “What I’m struggling with most is the possible negative impact on them being forced to walk past their teachers on a picket line. I know our teachers care about our kids. I hope they think about that when they make their choice.”

Daniel Wise, a teacher in the district for 21 years, said it’s time the district “look at some reform.”

“Teachers build communities,” Wise told the school board. “We’ve raised test scores for the community of Ramona.”

Wise said the cuts affected both teachers and students, as evidenced by custodial cuts and unkempt bathrooms on school property.

The board voted unanimously to approve the release of the fact-finding report, but Graeff reminded the attendees that there was no action to vote on anything other than release the report to the public.

The report stated that with the district spending 83-87 percent of the unrestricted dollars on personnel, including salaries and benefits, there is “simply not enough money… to absorb the deep cuts the state has imposed.”

The district has asked the teachers association to take a 9 percent pay cut, as well as pay into their benefits.

“The fact-finding process has not produced an agreement thus far, but the report does validate the factual information the district has presented since negotiations began 18 months ago,” Superintendent Graeff said.

“Both parties have to take this information into account in order to achieve a settlement that is both fair to our teachers and financially responsible.”

Braye-Romero said she’s not sure what the next step is for the union.

“We’re in kind of a stalemate.”

Read a copy of the fact-finding summary at the Ramona Unified School District website.

Do you think the teachers will strike? What are your plans if they do?


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