Educators have complained to administration about variety of
issues, including curriculum decisions and class sizes
Morgan Hill – Since its formation in 1978, the number of grievances filed by the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers against the Morgan Hill Unified School District could be counted on one hand, but now the union has filed five within a few months.
“Once in a while, a disagreement arises, and you can’t talk it out, you might not resolve it until you get to the formal process of a grievance, but what we have been experiencing in this last year, and particularly in the last few months, is incident after incident after incident,” said Donna Foster, president of MHFT.
A grievance is a formal complaint against the district allowed to the teachers under their MHFT contract. It allows for resolution of differences regarding contractual issues. There are several steps in the grievance filing process, beginning with conversations at the school site level, and progressing, if the issue is not resolved there, to a meeting between the superintendent and the union president. If the issue is still not resolved, the next level is mediation or an appeal to the school board.
Foster said issues the union has brought to the district’s attention recently include teacher input on curriculum decisions, class size overages and maximums, special education student assignment and caseloads, failure to pay teachers in a timely manner for work provided, negotiating with individual teachers in grades 7-12 to teach during their preparation periods and an issue with the negotiated contract language for the Gavilan “High Step” program.
“The district has received and responded to three grievances from the MHFT,” MHUSD Assistant Superintendent Jay Totter said in a written statement. “One of the grievances was responded to by the district at the first level, and we did not receive a response from the MHFT within the specified timeline in the contract. It appears as if this grievance has been resolved. The second grievance is at level two and the superintendent has met with the MHFT president on Nov. 20 to discuss the grievance. At the present time, the district is awaiting a response from the MHFT. The third grievance is at the third level, and a date for mediation has been tentatively set for Jan. 25.”
Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini, who has been with the district for many years, said she sees the recent incidents as part of a “metamorphosis” the district is undergoing. She said she believes the issues with the union are a part of that process, and that the discussions will “clear the air.”
Foster said that while one grievance was resolved – back pay for teachers – the teachers just received their pay Dec. 1, four months after the work they were paid for.
The mediation date, Foster said, was confirmed by the district on Monday, when the mediator called to inform her he had heard from the district.
“This isn’t part of a change process, this is about violations of the contract and labor law and regulations,” she said. “We don’t want conflict, we want to solve problems. We make every attempt to solve problems. But we need to have meaningful communication in order to do so. I approach every problem with possible solutions, I don’t walk in the door with a problem without several solutions that can be discussed. A working relationship between employees and the district is critical to implementing positive changes. You must have buy-in and appropriate communication with employees.”
Foster said one of the union’s biggest concerns is teacher input to curriculum development.
“We brought staff development to the table before Alan Nishino arrived here … We emphatically believe in quality staff development that helps train teachers to do work of educating students,” she said. “We have a professional interest in maintaining the curriculum process. The contract language is there.”
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at
md****@*************es.com.
