Teachers and support staff urge full funding of 10.5% raise and demand apology over district email

Multiple teachers, instructional assistants and parents used the public-comment period at the joint Charlottesville City School Board and City Council meeting to urge council to fully fund a 10.5% raise the CEA negotiated for support professionals and to call for an apology over a district all-staff email released the prior Friday.

Bryce Esselstyn, a second-grade teacher at Trailblazer Elementary, said the Friday message “left out critical context” and framed the delay as the union’s failure to bring a revised contract to a vote. Several speakers said the CEA had repeatedly sought clarifications to contract language and that presenting the situation as the union’s fault was misleading and damaging to morale.

Instructional assistant Shamika Henson recounted a November vehicle fire that left her car a total loss and said she had asked district staff for assistance; she told the meeting that only one staff member responded and she has not seen broader support from the division. Teachers and support staff described working multiple jobs, struggling to pay bills and the real consequences of delays or confusing communications about raises.

Abigail Johnson, a first-grade teacher and school-level union representative, asked the board to issue an apology for how leadership communicated about the CEA and urged city council to allocate the funds necessary to deliver the agreed 10.5% increase. Michael Salvatierra, vice president of the CEA, read a letter from a 27-year employee who described holding a second job and feeling dismissed by the tone of the district’s email.

Speakers consistently tied the compensation ask to student outcomes, arguing that without instructional assistants and other support staff teachers cannot provide differentiated instruction or the supports many students need. Several commenters asked for an apology from district leadership for the all-staff message and for clearer, more respectful communications going forward.

The board did not vote on these requests tonight. Public commenters asked council to fully fund the schools’ proposed budget so the division can implement the collective-bargaining agreement without further harm to staff morale or student supports.