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VTA and VUSD continue to meet on Fridays to bargain the full contract. Both teams are actively working on negotiating the terms of the eventual return to classrooms with safety and health at the center of our work. Joint updates will continue every 2 weeks.
As stated in our last update, the 12.19.1 Salary Schedule Raise formula from the previously negotiated contract has been delayed due to the COVID 19 pandemic. A concrete percentage of the salary increase will be released by the end of the school year. This increase should appear on employee’s August or September paycheck with retro pay following as soon as possible. VUSD will continue to keep you updated. Both VUSD and VTA met on May 15th to continue contract negotiations. The following Articles have been introduced and are currently being worked on by both parties: Article 1: Recognition Article 9: Employee Rights/Bargaining Unit Rights Article 12: Salaries Article 13: Unit Member Benefits Article 16: Leave Policies Article 17: Work Year Article Article 19: Teacher’s Safety Conditions of Employment Article 21: Transfers/Reassignments and Filling of Vacancies Article 23: Curriculum and Leadership Positions Article 24: PAR and Induction Article 25: Teacher Intern Program Article 26: Evaluation Procedures Article 30: Special Education Tentative Agreements have been reached on the following articles: Article 8: Term Article 11: Professional Dues or Fees and Payroll Deductions Article 19: Teacher’s Safety Conditions of Employment Article 28: Grievance Procedures -Rachel D’Ambroso VUSD Bargaining chair and Reagan Duncan VTA Bargaining chair
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In our first joint bargaining message we first wanted to say, Happy Educators’ Appreciation week! Thank you for all the amazing work you have been doing to support all students throughout this school year and in particular, through distance learning. Your dedication to students has been phenomenal! Thank you!
Bargaining has in fact continued over this time of distance learning. Thank you to both teams for their flexibility in this new virtual world of negotiation. VTA and VUSD have been and will continue to meet each Friday, bargaining the full contract. We will be sending out bargaining updates every 2 weeks. We want to address the governor's announcement in which he indicated that schools may open over the summer. We know this has caused many to worry about the upcoming school year. Rest assured, all changes to the calendar are bargained and both VUSD and VTA have agreed that opening schools early is not a feasible option due to both the current budget constraints and simply needing that time off before beginning the next school year. We will be bargaining the return to work conditions, keeping student and employee health and safety concerns/guidelines at the forefront of our discussions. In addition, the Superintendent’s Council for Innovative Learning will be working to determine any changes to the teaching and learning structure for the Fall of 2020. This council will be composed of teachers, students, parents, and administrators. We will continue to negotiate and keep you updated as we receive more information from both the state and county office of education as to what the beginning of this next school year will look like. Updates regarding the 12.19.1 Salary Schedule Raise formula from the previously negotiated contract have been delayed due to the COVID 19 pandemic. We expect to have the concrete percentage of the salary increase by the end of the school year. This increase should appear on employee’s August or September paycheck with retro pay following as soon as possible. VUSD will continue to keep you updated. Both VUSD and VTA met on April 24th and May 1st to continue contract negotiations. The following Articles have been introduced and are currently being worked on by both parties: Article 1: Recognition Article 9: Employee Rights/Bargaining Unit Rights Article 11: Professional Dues or Fees and Payroll Deductions Article 12: Salaries Article 13: Unit Member Benefits Article 16: Leave Policies Article 17: Work Year Article Article 19: Teacher’s Safety Conditions of Employment Article 21: Transfers/Reassignments and Filling of Vacancies Article 23: Curriculum and Leadership Positions Article 24: PAR and Induction Article 25: Teacher Intern Program Article 26: Evaluation Procedures Tentative Agreements have been reached on the following articles: Article 8: Term Article 19: Teacher’s Safety Conditions of Employment Article 28: Grievance Procedures -Reagan Duncan VTA Bargaining chair The Vista Unified School District (VUSD) and the Vista Teachers Association (VTA) met at the District office on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 to begin bargaining for the 2020-2023 VUSD & VTA Contract.
VTA presented Articles 1: Recognition, 8: Term, 18: Teachers' Safety Conditions of Employment, and 28: Grievance Procedures. VUSD presented Articles 17: Work year, and 24: Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) and Induction. The next meeting will be March 24th. Please click below to get the full Article of each Tentative Agreement:
Article 16 Tentative Agreement Article 17 Tentative Agreement Article 20 Tentative Agreement Article 26 Tentative Agreement Article 30 Tentative Agreement Appendix A-5 Tentative Agreement Voting will take place among our membership from January 20-27, 2020 at each individual school site. Click HERE for digital version of latest bargaining update.
The Vista Unified School District (VUSD) and the Vista Teachers Association (VTA) met at the District office on Wednesday, December 18, 2019. Both VUSD and VTA have reached tentative agreements on all articles in this negotiations session: Article 12
Negotiations for the 2019/2020 school year have concluded -Rachel D’Ambroso VUSD Bargaining chair and Reagan Duncan VTA Bargaining chair The Vista Unified School District (VUSD) and the Vista Teachers Association (VTA) met at the VTA Office on Tuesday, October 29, 2019.
Both VUSD andVTA have reached tentative agreements on the following articles: Tentative Agreements Article 16
Article 12
Article 26
Article 30
-Rachel D’Ambroso VUSD Bargaining chair and Reagan Duncan VTA Bargaining chair The Vista Unified School District (VUSD) and the Vista Teachers Association (VTA) met at the District Office on Tuesday, October 22, 2019.
-Rachel D’Ambroso VUSD Bargaining chair and Reagan Duncan VTA Bargaining chair The Vista Unified School District (VUSD) and the Vista Teachers Association (VTA) met at the VTA Office on Tuesday, October 8, 2019.
VTA wasn’t able to agree to this proposal. Going forward, the VUSD bargaining team will meet with VTA on October 22nd with updates and new proposals regarding the 8 period day and open articles. My Fellow VTA Members,
It is with great pleasure that I share this information with you. On November 30, 2017, the VTA and VUSD Bargaining Teams reached a tentative agreement on a new contract. The new contract will need to be ratified by membership and then approved by the School Board. Once it is approved by both VTA members and the VUSD School Board, it will go into effect immediately and expire on July 1, 2020. Both your Bargaining Team and your Executive Board have endorsed this contract and urge you to vote in favor of ratification. We have reached a fair and equitable agreement that grants VTA a number of benefits. While VTA has concerns about "daily" class size language, we are satisfied that the current contract allows us to adequately protect our members (see Article 20 below). Any questions regarding the tentative agreement should be addressed to the VTA Bargaining Chair, Ron Ferreirae, at ronferreirae@vistausd.org. In addition, Bargaining Team members will be available at the VTA office from 3-5 PM on Wednesday, December 13. On that date, there will also be a copy of the entire proposed contract available for review. Ratification voting will take place at school sites starting Tuesday, Dec 12 with all ballots due at the VTA office by Friday Dec 15th at 3:00pm. It is very important that all members vote for or against the proposed changes to the contract. VTA Site Representatives will be conducting the vote and they will have more information next week. Ballot counting will be done at Indian Joe’s starting at 4:30pm on Friday Dec 15. In addition ballots may also be cast or turned in at Indian Joes from 3:00 until 4:30pm. I would encourage any and all to come and celebrate our new contract. In Solidarity, Tod Critchlow VTA President The major changes to the contract are: Article 12: Salaries a) 3% increase to the salary schedule beginning January 1, 2018. b) Beginning July 1, 2018, the salary schedule will be restructured so that the current columns G, H, and I will replace columns A, B, and C. This will have no effect on salaries but will increase all stipends (Master's, Doctorate, and extra-curricular activities) by approximately 14.5%. c) Beginning January 1, 2018 the Adult Ed salary schedule will be restructured to include more steps and an additional column for those with a Master's degree. d) A formula will be used to determine salary increases for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years. This formula is based on the amount of revenues the district receives from the state and is very similar to the formula that was used in 2016-2017 which resulted in a 2.9% salary increase for that year. e) VTA members who complete units for advancement on the salary schedule will be able to move to the next column on the salary schedule as soon as the transcripts are given to HR - this can be at any time during the year instead of only at the beginning of a new school year. ** The 1% retroactive pay that we are due from July 2016-Sept. 2017 will be included in the Jan. 31, 2018 paycheck Article 13: Benefits a) VUSD will contribute an additional $300 per year towards health benefits. This is retroactive to July 1, 2017, so members will receive a $150 reimbursement for the first half of the year. Article 16: Leave Policies a) Employees on Pregnancy Disability Leave will now be entitled to differential pay if they have used all of their sick leave days. b) Employees will be entitled to use 2 days of sick leave per school year for Personal Business. These days do not require any reason to be given for the absence, but they do require 5-day notice to be given to the site administrator. c) The California Family Rights Act leave has been added to the contract, allowing up to 12 weeks of leave to care for a newly born or adopted child. Sick leave can be used during this time, and differential pay will be made if the employee has used up all of their sick leave days. Article 17: Work Year a) Middle and High School Special Ed. Department Chairs can receive up to 5 days of per diem pay during the summer to schedule students into classes for the next school year. Article 18: Teachers' Duty Hours a) Returning to the contract in Article 18.3 - "Excluding assigned supervision duty responsibilities, elementary teachers shall have the time before and after student contact hours for preparation, planning, and conferences." Article 20: Class Sizes a) No changes have been made to the issue of student contacts pending legal rulings on a VTA grievance and an Unfair Labor Practice challenge filed with the Public Employee Relations Board. Article 21: Transfers a) Language is being added to clarify tie-breaking procedures in the event that involuntary transfers are necessary. Article 23: Curriculum and Leadership Positions a) Increasing the number of leadership team positions at elementary sites from 6 to 7. Article 24: Peer Assistance and Review a) Increasing the stipend for Consulting Teachers who assist during the PAR process from $500 to $800 per semester. Article 26: Evaluations a) Increasing the stipend for Consulting Teachers who assist during the CAP process from $500 to $800 per semester. b) Added specific evaluation standards for Social Workers, Speech-Language Pathologists, and Psychologists. c) Require that formal observations are only done when an employee is performing duties that are a regular part of their job. To My Fellow VTA Members, It is with great pleasure that I share the attached joint announcement of a tentative agreement for a three year contract. Your bargaining team has worked together with the district to come up with a fair settlement. We will be providing more information via your reps in the coming weeks, with the goal of having our ratification vote before the end of the year. I want to stress that we could not have done this without the support of you, the members! 
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AuthorsVTA President and Bargaining Team: Archives
May 2020
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