Wednesday, April 18, 2012

April 16, 2012 - Negotiation Highlights

GEA - GSD Negotiations
April 16, 2012

The sessions was facilitated by Genaro Alarcon for the District. Ken Tang was the recorder from the Association.

The Association began with an insight regarding communications. The District agreed on April 3rd that it would "post negotiation documents separate from its own summary of the bargaining session." As of April 16th, the District had not yet segregated the two types of documents on their website. The Association pointed this out, and the District agreed it would work to make the distinction on its website.

The District distributed three calendars for the 2012-13 school year. The majority of the session was spent discussing these calendar options. The three calendars have starting Orientation days of August 17, 2012, August 24, 2012 and August 31, 2012. Highlights of the discussion are presented below.

  • It was noted by the Association that one of the calenders (beginning 8/17) was different than what had agreed upon at the previous bargaining session. The District explained that starting on the 27th of August would be problematic because payroll is due to LA County on that date. They would not know who actually reported to work prior to having to submit payroll to the county.
  • Another consideration was the August start date. Even with the calendar beginning on the 31st of August, there may be issues caused by rule changes and enforcement by STRS. Michael Coughlin said he would discuss the matter on April 17th with the appropriate parties, because he would be attending a meeting with STRS representatives that day.
  • Issues regarding the late notice to all stakeholders for a drastically changed 2012-2013 calendar were discussed. This led to discussions about looking at the calendar for the next two years instead of just one.
  • The District plans to survey parents in regards to their preferences about calendar options. There was a lengthy discussion about the type of survey questions, as well as how the survey would be done in relation to validity and reliability. The District agreed it would allow the Association to give input on the survey. The District would consider this input before going forward with the survey. The survey will take place soon, and use statistical randomization tables in order to ensure a useful outcome.
  • The time line for implementation of a calendar will be dependent upon the time needed to create, conduct and analyze the parent survey.
The Association presented a set of questions regarding staff development spending during this school year as well as projections for the next two years. The questions can be found here. These questions and answers will be used in the next session to discuss staff development.

The next session is scheduled for April 27, 2012.

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