In the second round of the Times’ Accountability in Community
Leadership Project for the Morgan Hill Unified School District’s
School Board of Education, settling labor contracts with teachers,
classified employees and administrators was the most contentious
and trying of seven goals up for public review.
Morgan Hill – In the second round of the Times’ Accountability in Community Leadership Project for the Morgan Hill Unified School District’s School Board of Education, settling labor contracts with teachers, classified employees and administrators was the most contentious and trying of seven goals up for public review.
The goals, submitted by Board of Education President Peter Mandel, have May, June and July completion dates. According to trustees and district officials they have mostly been accomplished or are underway.
The goals were adopted in July of 2006. The board approved the measurements under four broad topics dealing with student achievement, fiscal responsibility, employee respect and communication.
THE GOALS
These are the goals up for review which are also listed in a report card accompanying this story and uploaded on the newspaper’s Web site at www.morganhilltimes.com.
- The Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Education will settle collective bargaining agreements with the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers, the Service Employees International Union and the Morgan Hill Educational Leaders Association in a timely fashion. Target date: May.
Status: The SEIU’s 2006-07 and 2007-08 contracts were settled in May. The MHFT re-opened its contract in March, and it is still under negotiation.
- Create a school district facilities master plan with a variety of outlooks for growth including alternative outcomes for the Coyote Valley Specific Plan. Target date: May.
Status: District staff presented a five-year facilities master plan to trustees on June 25. District staff also presented a response to the Coyote Valley Specific Plan Environmental Impact Report by the June 29 deadline.
- Maximize student attendance by communicating with parents quarterly and working with the Morgan Hill Police Department on student truancy. Target date: June.
Status: Principals use the ConnectEd telephone and e-mail notification system to contact parents about attendance issues. Students have been referred to the Student Attendance and Review Board for poor attendance and families have participated in a truancy negotiation program with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
- Complete plans for finishing Live Oak High School renovation in 2006-07. Complete renovation by the end of 2008. Target date: June.
Status: The Live Oak High School renovated plan was completed this spring, and projects that have not been completed like the makeover of the Little Theater are scheduled for completion by the end of 2008.
- Plan to address Morgan Hill Unified School District retiree health benefits financial exposure. In 2006-07, procure a qualified licensed consultant to assist in retirement benefit study. Target date: July.
Status: MHUSD staff presented a report July 31 on the district’s financial obligation for retiree health and welfare benefits.
- Morgan Hill Unified School District Assistant Superintendent Jay Totter or his staff will attend a minimum of four recruitment activities this year to attract qualified school employees. Target date: May.
Status: The human resources staff has attended eight recruitment activities since the spring and posts and recruits through an education Web site.
- The Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Education will create a uniform response criteria to communicate with the public on school issues. Target date: July.
Status: A strategy for documenting and addressing concerns and issues from the public has been developed.
COMMENTS ON GOALS
“I am pleased to report that due to the hard work of district staff, we have been able to accomplish the target goals for this year,” Superintendent Alan Nishino said. “Staff will now build upon the accomplishments of the 2006-07 year to continue our focus on closing the achievement gap and raise academic achievement for all students.”
School Board President Peter Mandel is complimentary of the efforts of district employees to achieve the goals.
“I’m pleased that the school district continues to make rapid progress in meeting its goals,” he said.
Board of Education member Bart Fisher, the newest trustee on the board, said he is generally pleased with the way the district is progressing toward completion of the goals.
“Overall, I think we’re doing pretty good on those,” he said of the most recent measurements. “The district doesn’t have a lot of leeway in things we are required to do around financial areas. Those constraints combined with (Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini’s) organization and the excellent work they do have given the district a fairly firm footing there.”
Fisher did say he thinks the board needs more effort in completing agreements with the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers, the Service Employees International Union and the Morgan Hill Educational Leaders Association.
“On the issue of settling collective bargaining agreements with our unions, I think we have some work to do there,” he said. “I look forward to addressing that when we set our goals for the upcoming year, but we, as a board, will have to have consensus or four of us agree on it. I think it is a positive sign that we were able to settle with SEIU and get that into a two-year contract … I look forward to resolving the outstanding differences that we have had with MHFT from last year and to completing current negotiations.”
The district and the 300-plus members of the SEIU Local 521 were locked in a nasty labor dispute that lasted nearly six months, during which the non-teaching workers claimed the district was trying to cheat them of a wage increase while giving teachers, Nishino and the district’s administrators a five percent salary increase.
Under the agreement, classified employees will receive a 4 percent salary increase, which will be retroactive to last July, and a 2.7 percent increase on top of that beginning July 1, plus an increase in their benefits package for full time employees to $6,700 on July 1, then to $7,200 on Dec. 31.
Trustee Shelle Thomas said even though the district was eventually able to reach an agreement with union members after the teachers and the classified employees had gone to mediation sessions, she does not believe that either group was happy with the direction the district is going.
“I have concerns on all counts,” she said Monday. “The board needs to have a lot more information, and not after the fact. We need to concentrate on being partners as we move forward, or leaders as we move forward. It’s time for the board to step up and be leaders.”
THE PROJECT
The Times has created the accountability project to better connect with readers and public officials. The newspaper’s editorial board, headed by Times Publisher Steve Staloch, feels the project also empowers public officials keeping them on track of goals as they seek to serve taxpayers, who pay their salaries and put them in office.
