Bargaining teams for CUSD and ACT have reached an agreement after three months of negotiations. For the first time in eight years, CUSD was able to offer an increase in teacher salaries. Certificated teacher salaries will not only increase by 6.9% over a two year period, they will also be commensurate with the average salary paid by most other school districts. If agreed to by ACT members and by the CUSD Governing Board, the agreement will continue in effect until June 2017.
School Board trustees heard clearly from CUSD teachers and Superintendent Felix that eight years of cuts have left our school community worn and worried. All shareholders agreed that retaining our skilled teaching staff and attracting new talented educators were essential to the success of our District.
The CUSD governance team felt strongly that it needed to address ALL teachers as individuals and ensure that ALL teachers were brought up to a countywide average on the pay scale. Rather than use indiscriminate pay increases, the new contract agreement compensates each individual teacher the amount required to close their individual comparative salary gap over two years. CUSD believes that while this targeted approach is more complex, it is also more thoughtful and treats each individual as a unique and worthy member.
As a result of revising the Financial Guidelines in Board Policy 3050, the School Board created the opportunity to fund this unique salary increase. Two major factors in the revised policy included 1) the General Fund use of 2% Pass Through funds that were traditionally allocated to facility maintenance, and 2) the commitment to “strive to attain a total compensation package that is at or above the average for selected school districts in the region.” This latter philosophy is the backbone of this agreement and will enable the District to retain and attract teachers that will continue the proven track record of academic and social success the Coronado community has come to expect of its schools.
Source: Coronado Unified School District
