GUSTINE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
2022-2023 Teacher Negotiations Update
The District and GRTA held their third negotiations meeting on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, for 2022-2023 contract reopeners.
Both parties passed proposals on reopener articles including salary and benefits. The District also shared its concerns with recent data from the County showing low student test scores for English/Language Arts and Math, placing the District at 19 out of 20 when compared to other school districts in the County. To address concerns with this data, the District proposed adding one professional development day to the work year for 2022-2023, going from 184 to 185 like many other higher performing districts in the county. The additional day could be used to provide targeted training to teachers. GRTA rejected this proposal.
To address concerns with the low test score data, the District also proposed to add 13 minutes of instructional time to each school day. The additional minutes would benefit students with more instructional time from their teachers. GRTA rejected this proposal.
As an incentive to gain GRTA’s agreement to adding the one professional development day and 13 minutes of additional instructional time, the District offered the following compensation proposal:
A 9.5% increase to the salary schedule, retroactive to July 1, 2022; OR
A 9.32% increase to the salary schedule, retroactive to July 1, 2022 and increase Master’s stipend to $750.
GRTA rejected this proposal. GRTA also downplayed the low test scores as nothing more than a political talking point. The District’s negotiations team vehemently disagrees with GRTA on this issue. Gustine students have consistently ranked among the lowest in the County on state assessments for English/Language Arts and Math. Adding one additional professional growth day for teachers, and 13 additional minutes of daily instruction, will greatly benefit the educational program for students and lead to better performance on state assessments for English/Language Arts and Math. The District is firm on this position and will continue to advocate for its students.
The District and GRTA will continue negotiations on November 10, 2022.