Colleagues,
Here’s a brief update on some current issues and developments:
– School Reorganization. The Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the Superintendent’s School Reorganization and Grade Configuration Plan on Thursday, October 19th. RTA is advocating for, and providing support to, the schools that are opposed to their proposed closing. We are also negotiating with the District to provide support for schools that may be closing or relocating – such as time and resources for moving, transfer rights priority, and keeping school faculty together whenever feasible. All RTA members are urged to come out to the October 19 meeting of the school board (6:30pm at East HS) to support the teachers, parents, students, and community members who will urge the board to make the plan truly good for students and fair to teachers. To sign up to speak at the Board of Education meeting, call (585) 262-8525 or email <boardofeducation@rcsdk12.org> by noon of the meeting date to provide your name, telephone number, email address, and District affiliation (e.g., teacher, parent, student, community member). But even if you do not plan to speak, please come to show support for those who will.
– First 15 Minutes. As you know, we have already filed a Class Action Grievance and a Notice of Claim for an Improper Practice Suit against the District to restore teachers’ unencumbered preparation time during the first fifteen minutes of the day. Meanwhile, Superintendent Peluso proposed that we attempt to resolve the matter collaboratively by establishing a joint panel of teachers and school-level administrators to address the issue and to make a joint recommendation before the end of the current semester. Without withdrawing our formal Class Action Grievance and Improper Practice Charge, we are agreeable to giving the Superintendent’s proposal a chance to hopefully settle the issue.
– Substitute Teachers Tentative Contract. After lengthy negotiations and three years without a successor contract, RTA’s Per Diem Substitute Teachers finally reached a Tentative Agreement for a successor contract with the District. The proposed pact is retroactive to July 1, 2022 and will be in effect until June 30, 2026. The Tentative Agreement includes important improvements in compensation, benefits, and working conditions for substitute teachers. Kudos to the unit’s negotiations team, Chairperson George Greven, Chief Negotiator John Pavone, Martha Keating, Aimee Rinere, and all others who played a role in achieving this tentative deal. The RCSD Board of Education and members of the RTA Per Diem Substitute Teachers Unit are scheduled to vote on the proposed successor agreement this week. Full details of the new agreement will be released after the ratification by both parties.
– Arts Memorandum of Agreement. After a decade of failing to increase stipends for teachers involved in producing performances at the School of the Arts, the District finally agreed to improvements in stipend rates and longevity pay. For the first time, compensation will also be extended to teachers doing comparable work at other RCSD schools, not just SOTA. This Memorandum of Agreement (see attached), reached through Living Contract negotiations, will be incorporated into the current contract between the RTA and the District. We are grateful to Martha Keating, as well as SOTA’s Kenneth Canfield and Bradley Craddock, for their guidance and their key role in this effort.
– Athletic Coaches Memorandum of Agreement. I am pleased to announce that, also through our Living Contract negotiations, we have also reached an agreement for athletic coaches to significantly increase their compensation rates; to adjust longevity, classifications, and titles; and to improve other terms and conditions of their work. The agreement also adds assistant coaches in some sports. These long overdue and well-deserved improvements make us more competitive with surrounding districts and give us a better chance to attract and retain athletic coaches. As a result, our students will be the principal beneficiaries. The Memorandum of Agreement (attached below) will also be incorporated into the current contract between the RTA and the District. I want to thank all those who made this achievement possible – especially Martha Keating, Kyle Crandall, and Matt Lavonas. We are also grateful to Superintendent Peluso and his team for the collaborative role that they played in these negotiations as well as in the negotiations for the arts production teachers and the bargaining for the substitute teachers’ tentative agreement.
Adam Urbanski, RTA President