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Educators and parents pressed WCCUSD board to ratify tentative agreements; district says contracts completed by unions and will go to county review
Summary
Hundreds of teachers and allied school staff told the West Contra Costa Unified board Dec. 17 to place a tentative agreement on the agenda and ratify it, citing student needs, staffing shortages and high contractor spending. Superintendent Cotton said UTR and Teamsters members have ratified their TAs and the agreements will go to the county for AB1200 fiscal review before final board ratification.
Scores of educators and parents urged the West Contra Costa Unified School District board on Dec. 17 to put the United Teachers of Richmond tentative agreement on the agenda and ratify it promptly, telling the board that ratification is needed to stabilize staffing and retain classroom and specialist staff.
Gabrielle Micheletti, identified in public comment as “a leader in UTR,” said the tentative agreement must be ratified by the board for it to take effect and criticized district spending choices: “If you invested in your educators rather than spending all this money trying to strike, break, and fight the community … perhaps our students, educators, and staff would be better off,” she said.
Multiple speech-language pathologists, classroom teachers and union officers described unusually high caseloads for specialists, hiring through contractors and vacancies that the TA is intended to address. Jean Kinster, who said she had been on the picket line, asked the board to ratify the contract “so I can go on to the next step.” Marissa Shade, an SLP, and Andrea Livinghouse, a UTR executive board member, urged quick ratification to retain specialists and reduce contractor dependence.
Superintendent Cheryl Cotton told the board that United Teachers of Richmond and the Teamsters have ratified their tentative agreements and summarized key elements: a 5% salary increase effective July 1, 2025 and a 3% increase July 1, 2026; a plan to reach 100% benefits by June 2027 for both units; recruitment and retention stipends including one-time special-education stipends and incentives for credentialed district graduates. She said the agreements will be submitted to the county office of education for the AB1200 fiscal review and then returned to the board for final ratification and budget adjustments.
District staff estimated the three-year cost of the agreements at about $105 million. Superintendent Cotton said the district will integrate budget adjustments into long-term fiscal planning and bring the items back for board action following the county review.
What happens next: the county AB1200 review examines the fiscal impact; final execution requires board ratification and budget adjustments.
