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Teachers urge better pay and supports; board hears HVAC fixes and state dashboard gains
Summary
Teachers' union president Rachel Bloom urged board action on compensation and supports to retain experienced teachers; staff reported near-completion of emergency HVAC work at Kennedy Elementary and presented state dashboard gains for Newark Unified, including 14.7-point ELA growth and a 7.2-point ELPAC gain.
Rachel Bloom, president of the Newark Teachers Association, told the board Dec. 10 that teacher retention is at risk and that current compensation and benefits "are not going to get it done." Bloom urged the board to involve NTA in long-term planning for staffing, program growth and supports for students with behavioral and mental-health needs.
On facilities, district operations lead Travis Freitas reported that thermostat installations are complete at Kennedy Elementary except for one library unit missing a motherboard; staff are getting quotes to replace that unit and had started work at the middle school, counting 20 thermostats installed as of the afternoon of the meeting. "Every single classroom has working HVAC, all for the exception of one particular unit at the library," Freitas reported.
Staff also highlighted recent accountability data from the Alameda County release of the California Dashboard. Karen Allard walked trustees through slides showing Newark Unified led Alameda County in English language arts growth (14.7 percentage points) and posted a 7.2-point increase in students advancing on the annual ELPAC; the district showed a 4.1-point rise in graduation rate and reduced suspensions by 1.5 percentage points, moving indicators from orange to yellow or green.
Superintendent Pekar said the district will post a web page with superintendent-search materials and that staff are planning summer-school programming (June 2'30) and a June 16 high-school graduation date. The board and NTA agreed to continue engagement on staffing and program supports in coming planning sessions.
