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Teachers union outlines bargaining priorities; corrects health‑premium figure to $810.78
Summary
Central Unified Teachers Association president Laura Bolton summarized bargaining priorities — supports for special education and English learners, PAR agreement work, and concerns about proposed health insurance premium increases; she later corrected the premium figure during public comment to $810.78 from $221.18.
Laura Bolton, president of the Central Unified Teachers Association, spoke during the Feb. 25 meeting to outline the union’s bargaining priorities and inform the public about accommodations for Ramadan.
Bolton said the district has asked for an extra hour of professional development on early‑release Wednesdays and proposed large increases to employee health insurance premiums. During her presentation she referenced a premium change but later, during public comment, corrected her initial arithmetic. She told the board the proposed change under current bargaining would raise employee premiums from $221.18 per month to $810.78 per month if the district’s proposal were adopted; she said that move would shift the district’s plan from among the most affordable to one of the most expensive for employees.
On bargaining priorities, Bolton said salary increases were not the primary focus this year; instead the union seeks additional supports to reduce audit failures and improve services, including: - More prep time for special education staff to complete compliance tasks and avoid audit findings; additional speech and language pathologist support; smaller grade spans to reduce teacher workload and eliminate blended special‑education assignments (for example, RSP combined with SDC) - Additional newcomer instructional coaches (three secondary and two elementary positions requested) and push‑in aide support at secondary sites for students with very low English proficiency - Expansion of specialized alternative‑education classrooms and social workers in secondary schools to coordinate 504 plans and student study teams
Bolton said these requests reflect unduplicated student needs (English learners, foster youth, low‑income) and emphasized that local tax dollars directed to those students should be spent on services they need.
The board received the update; the union noted negotiations were ongoing and said it expects to resume talks in early March.
