With members of the teachers and classified workers unions repeatedly and publicly expressing displeasure with their current contracts, school district leadership scheduled a Nov. 7 special closed session board meeting to discuss ongoing contract negotiations.
The school board trustees will offer direction to district negotiators heading into their next session with union bargaining team members. At the Nov. 1 school board meeting, trustees and district staff adjourned to closed session prior to and after the public session.
The teachers union’s next negotiating session is set for Nov. 10.
The unions have been at the bargaining table with district officials since “sunshining” (or opening) their contract talks in the spring months. However, no amendments have been made official to their current contracts—most notably in the area of compensation—and their members have grown tired.
This comes on the heels of Ericka Haitt, local chapter president for the Service International Employees Union and school bus driver, announcing her resignation at the Nov. 1 board meeting.
It also is weeks after Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers President Gemma Abels disclosed that her members will not agree to anything less than a 10 percent pay raise over two years with the ability to revisit the article next negotiating period.
Haitt, whose last day with Morgan Hill Unified School District was Nov. 3, told the school board and all those in attendance Tuesday night that she was facing eviction from her residence and could no longer afford to work in Morgan Hill under the current contract structure.
“I cannot tell you how frustrated and upset I am to tell you this,” said Haitt at the Nov. 1 meeting. “You’re losing brilliant people and you are going to continue to lose brilliant people. Give them a reason to stay and they will. If anyone would have given me a reason to stay, I would have.”
Haitt, who appreciated her time employed with MHUSD, accepted a bus driver position with Gilroy Unified School District, which has slightly lower hourly pay but offers 40-hour work weeks—unlike in Morgan Hill—and the ability to work extra on field trips, she said.
“I’m gonna really miss seeing these guys,” said Haitt, recognizing the students in the audience. “I shouldn’t have had to leave.”
The Nov. 7 special meeting, which also lists the administration’s Morgan Hill Educational Leaders Association, will be called to order at 3:30 p.m. and allows for members of the public to speak prior to adjourning to closed session. Superintendent Steve Betando is listed as the district’s designated representative, according to the agenda item.
At the Nov. 1 school board session, eight classified employees—including custodians, kitchen staff and bus drivers—spoke about being short-staffed, under-paid and unappreciated.
SEIU members began contract negotiations with the district around the same time as the teachers union. However, the teachers were the most vocal of the two unions prior to the Nov. 1 meeting, which no MHFT representatives attended.
“I don’t make enough money to pay my rent,” said Rigoberto Rodriguez, a veteran custodian of 28 years. “We can’t afford to live, let alone survive without taking a second job and, sometimes, a third job. We’re missing time with our families, holidays and important moments with our children. But we sacrifice because we have to put food on the table and support our families.”
Similar to the teachers, classified employees targeted the district’s roughly $29 million in reserves and leftover from the 2015-16 school year budget as reason enough to increase their salaries.
