Robla teachers press board to settle contract, cite low pay and benefits amid high district reserves

Robla teachers urged the Robla School Board on multiple occasions during public comment to direct negotiators to settle a new collective bargaining agreement before the fall, saying current pay and health-benefit contributions are driving staff departures and harming student learning.

"We are calling on you, the board, to direct your bargaining team to come to the table and settle a fair contract that provides resources our team members need to stay," said Leah Boylan, president of the Robla Teachers Association, during the board meeting. She said RTA negotiators had met eight times since February but that critical items remained unresolved.

Why it matters: Teachers said the district’s compensation and benefit package is an outlier in the region and is directly tied to recruitment and retention problems that, they argued, have contributed to lower student achievement. The union presented district data and local comparisons and asked the board to prioritize spending in the near term to avoid more turnover.

Union…