This past June, the Association of Coronado Teachers (ACT) marched to the district office to protest CUSD’s work policies and their income. At the meeting, Coronado teachers discussed the number of hours they work outside of their contract for the benefit of the students. From writing letters of recommendation to working with students during their lunch hours, these teachers sometimes take sick days to finish every task they are responsible for as teaching professionals.
To protest their low pay scale in comparison with other districts, the teachers’ union has decided that teachers will close their doors during their breaks and only work their required seven hours and thirty-five minutes—for most teachers these hours are from 7:30-3:05, while those who have an E-period work from 6:30-2:05. All grading, writing recommendation letters, and supplemental instruction will occur on campus. This means that students at Coronado schools will lose the generous resource of before-school and lunch tutoring that teachers often provide.
Although teachers are contracted to work seven hours and thirty-five minutes, the CUSD contract still requires teachers to make adequate time for their students outside of the instructional day. CUSD maintains that: “It is, therefore, CUSD’s expectation that ACT’s decision to ‘work to contract’ will have no impact on a teacher’s availability to communicate with parents via email, phone, or in-person to discuss any pertinent issues.” [source: CUSD FAQs]
As CUSD is one of the lowest-paying districts in the county, Coronado schools have lost teachers that went on to teach in other districts. Five English teachers in the last five years have left Coronado High School, three of whom moved to new schools. 
After teaching at CHS for over a decade, Jon Zimmer (French Department, CHS) handed in his notice this summer to begin working at Mission Hills High School. Because Coronado is unable to compete with other districts in terms of salary, faculty retention in Coronado schools could become increasingly difficult. For more information regarding salary schedules and other frequently asked questions regarding these negotiations, click here.
“The Governing Board recognizes the amazing job our teachers do every day, and the difference they make in the lives of our students,” says CUSD Board President Maria Simon. “We have limited resources, but we are committed to finding a way to balance the district budget and compensate our staff fairly.” As balancing a budget is never simple, CUSD and ACT have met twelve times for negotiations to discuss certain articles of their contracts. Since CUSD has a fiduciary responsibility to its taxpayers, it cannot commit to heavy expenditures, as it would have an impact on other programs and services provided. To better compensate their employees, CUSD proposed a three-percent raise, while the ACT proposed a seven-percent raise.
“At the end of the day, we all want the same thing—parents, teachers, staff, the community, and the Governing Board—what is best for the students in our care,” says Superintendent Karl Mueller. “That’s as true for the teachers who are with them every day as it is for every other staff member in our district or who serves on the Board.
Superintendent Mueller went on to say that, “The difficulty from the District’s perspective is finding that balance of fiscal responsibility, avoiding cuts to programs that our parents expect and our students deserve, and ensuring those we entrust with our children feel valued and fairly compensated.”
Through this protest, the ACT is hoping to augment their pay scale to be competitive with other districts and to promote stability on Coronado campuses.
The following letter was emailed last week from CUSD:
Dear Coronado Families, Staff, and Community Members,
As our school community may already be aware, the Coronado Unified School District (CUSD) and Association of Coronado Teachers (ACT) are currently engaged in contract negotiations. Recently, ACT distributed a flyer with Frequently Asked Questions to parents and others in the CUSD community setting forth its position on some of the issues currently being negotiated. We have since received numerous inquiries from parents and other community members. In response, our Governing Board has asked district staff to create this document to provide our school community with important information regarding the status of negotiations and CUSD’s bargaining positions.
Please click here to read CUSD responses to Frequently Asked Questions.
