DUBLIN — The Dublin Unified School District and its teachers have come to a tentative contract agreement, avoiding a potential strike, the district announced Friday morning.
The 625-member Dublin Teachers Association has been on the verge of a teachers strike in recent weeks, even voting last month to strike if necessary. After a 13-hour marathon bargaining session Thursday, the tentative agreement was reached just before 9 p.m. that night.
It appears the teachers got most of what they were bargaining for. In the two-year agreement, teachers will receive a 4.5 percent ongoing raise, plus a one-time 1 percent increase, retroactive to July 1, 2018. Those who have been in the district for more than 24 years also will receive an additional 0.5 percent increase.
Kindergarten through fifth-grade class sizes will be limited to 24 to 28 students, and teachers will receive $6.50 per student, per day for any that go over that.
The teachers had been asking for a 3 percent raise in the 2018-19 school year tacked onto the 1.5 percent they received in their last contract, for a total of 4.5 percent. According to the district website, the union also has asked for a 3.5 percent one-time bonus. The district previously had offered a straight 2 percent raise for 2018-19, plus a 3 percent one-time bonus.
Also a win for the teachers is having one counselor per elementary school site — not every site currently has a full-time counselor. Teachers had sought smaller class sizes, special education support in the classroom, better staffing ratios for school counselors and school safety features such as lockable doors and window coverings.
Ratification of the contract by the union will be held on Monday at Dublin High School, the association announced on its Facebook group page.
“I think the most important thing we were able to realize last night is the commitment of our members and our community. The support truly gave us the momentum and push for us to keep going,” said Robbie Kreitz, president of Dublin Teachers Association.
She said they have not had to go this far in negotiations for a long time. If teachers were to have gone on strike, it likely would have been the first time in Dublin Unified’s history.
She said she’s committed to rebuilding the relationship between the union and the district going forward.
The union and district had been scheduled for a May 1 fact-finding hearing, the next step before a strike.
According to the California Department of Education, the average Dublin teacher in the 2017-18 school year was paid $85,965. The lowest salary schedule for a full-time teacher in the district starts at $62,065 and the highest is $106,480.
In 2017, Dublin teachers also were close to a strike, and held a candlelight march to protest the lack of progress in negotiations at the time. Similar marches to the district’s board meetings were also held this year during negotiations.
Last month, Dublin’s Superintendent Leslie Boozer unexpectedly left her position, following a mutually agreed upon separation with the district. An interim superintendent was announced this week, Dave Marken. He is a former principal at Dublin High, and assistant superintendent of educational services and human resources at the district. He’s expected to begin his new interim position on Monday.
Two months ago, the San Ramon Unified School District also avoided a strike when it reached a tentative agreement after teachers voted to authorize a strike. In February, Oakland teachers held a contentious seven-day strike until a contract was reached.