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Tehachapi Unified board approves multiple labor agreements, contracts and resolutions
Summary
The Tehachapi Unified School District board on May 12 approved several labor agreements (including the teachers' tentative agreements and AB1200 disclosure), vendor contracts and personnel resolutions, and reported a closed-session settlement and an expulsion. Most motions passed by recorded 6-0 votes; one personnel item was handled separately with recusals.
The Tehachapi Unified School District board on May 12 approved a slate of labor agreements, vendor contracts and personnel resolutions during a 5:00 p.m. meeting that lasted into the evening.
The board unanimously approved tentative agreements with the Tehachapi Association of Teachers (TAT), including items described in the agenda as "articles 358 and 10," and completed the AB1200 public disclosure and approval of the collective bargaining agreement with TAT for the 2026-27 school year. Val Bowman, president of the Tehachapi Association of Teachers, urged trustees to approve the deal and called the moment both celebratory and bittersweet, saying raises in a constrained budget come alongside staffing reductions. "Tonight's tentative agreement approval by the board is so very necessary," Bowman said.
Trustees also approved several administrative and contract items including a renewal with Edmentum (virtual course and credit-recovery provider), an agreement to provide a College and Career Access Pathways (dual enrollment) partnership with the local community college district for Tehachapi High School, a procurement of the ASB Works accounting platform for Jacobson Middle School and Tehachapi High School, and contracts with the Adult Skills Center (TASC) and Therapy and Action (for a student-specific service). Several personnel resolutions were approved, including Resolution No. 01 MAY26 (non-employment of classified employees) and Resolution No. 02 MAY26 (non-employment of certificated employees). Most motion votes were recorded as 6 in favor, Trustee Sweeney absent, as noted in the roll-call votes recorded in the meeting.
The consent agenda was approved after trustees removed personnel item 8 for separate consideration to avoid conflicts: trustees recused where appropriate before approving that personnel item separately. The transcript records the separate personnel vote as passing with a 4-to-0 tally after recusals.
Board members identified labor negotiators to represent the district in 2026-27 negotiations: Superintendent Brian Bell; Hochat Intazari, chief administrator of business services; Andrea Paxton, chief administrator of instructional services; Christy Libertique, principal of Tehachapi High School; Kendra Bailey, principal of Golden Hills Elementary; and Brian Park, DWK legal counsel.
After returning from closed session, the board reported granting unpaid leave for a classified employee (employee #5069) and approving a settlement agreement and an expulsion agreement; both actions were announced as approved by 6-0 roll-call votes.
The board scheduled additional business for its June meeting, and trustees requested follow-ups on several approvals and community concerns raised during the meeting.
