Last Thursday, the Las Lomitas Education Association (LLEA) organized a picketing event to support contract negotiations for the past school year and announced their upcoming strike on Wednesday, Oct. 23 if an agreement is not reached.
This event was held at the Las Lomitas Elementary School during the regular school district board meeting. If a strike occurs, school will continue, with the district advising families to look at their announcements for more information. LLEA educators have been in labor negotiations since last December for a 10% salary increase and better health care benefits. They have been without a contract since last July.
“We want the community to know that we are doing this for students, so that the district reprioritizes their budget for all the students so that we can be the best teachers and our students can have the very best,” LLEA co-president and La Entrada educator Daniella Lefer said.
The district’s offer is a 5% salary increase and $1,972 increase in health benefits, which they claim to be very competitive with neighboring districts. This was presented in a fact-finding report published by the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) on Oct. 14.
PERB recommended two new offers: a one-year settlement of a 7% salary increase or a two-year settlement of a 6% increase for 2023-24 and a 5% increase for 2024-25. Both parties rejected these recommendations with LLEA continuing to ask for a 10% raise.
The district’s new offer, announced last Friday, is a 5.5% salary increase for 2023-24. This, they shared, would not directly impact students nor reduce the district’s reserve funds significantly below the average for California school districts, which the other offers would.
“We’re looking for ways to be creative, and I know that we will continue to work with the broader community,” superintendent Beth Polito said. “Ultimately, we need to talk about looking for ways to generate more revenue.”
This new offer comes with the announcement of Polito’s retirement after over five years as the superintendent. In a flier shared last Wednesday, Polito shared how her intention to retire last year was delayed following a cancer diagnosis and her desire to spend her last year with students, staff and community members. Polito hopes that as negotiations continue, the board can meet one-on-one with LLEA.
“We are trying to get back to the bargaining table to continue talking about a way that we can bridge the gap between our positions,” Polito said. “So far that’s been unsuccessful [as they’re] unwilling to meet with us.”
Last year, 11 teachers left the district, which according to LLEA co-president and La Entrada educator Jennifer Montalvo, pointed to a larger issue and “deepening crisis”, especially when they’re in one of the “wealthiest zip codes in the country”. Polito acknowledged that the district has work to do in terms of health care benefits yet claimed that their salaries are “extremely competitive”.
“[When] neighboring districts are paying more, [teachers are] going to go,” Montalvo said. “They can have that opportunity. It’s happening because we are not raising our compensation to meet the cost of living.”
In the San Francisco Bay Area, the cost of living is 23% higher than the state average and 71% higher than the national average.
Montalvo and Lefer, who’ve been in the district for 21 and 13 years respectively, have never had to organize a picketing event and strike before. However, both shared that this is necessary to ensure that educators and students are being prioritized.
“Reprioritize the budget for students and educators,” Montalvo said. “Make this community number one again.”
