Please read this email in its entirety to be sure that you have as much information as possible.
I will do my best to give you as much information as I can without being too long-winded.

In October of 2021, the Faculty Association ratified a three-year contract with the district. In this Collective Bargaining Agreement, we received a 4.5% raise for the 2021-2022 school year and a 2% raise for the 2022-2023 school year. When we ratified this agreement, the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for the 2022-2023 school year was estimated to be around 3%. Since then, COLA has increased substantially to 6.56%. Due to this recent increase in COLA, the district has made an offer to the Faculty Association to change our current 2022-2023 salary schedule to reflect this increase. Additionally, the District has offered to give us a one-time 3% payment based on our new salary. This increase in pay would be reflected in our November paycheck. The November paycheck would also include back pay for September and October along with the 3% one-time payment. Before such a substantial change can be made to our contract, I have been advised by our CTA Staff Consultant and a CTA Lawyer to take a ratification vote of our FA Members. Therefore, on Friday morning you will receive a ballot from Simply Voting that will allow you to give your input on the district’s offer. Some of you will receive your ballot in your personal email while others will receive it in their school email. If you are a new teacher to the district, please check your school email. If you do not see the ballot, be sure to check your SPAM/junk folder.

Some additional topics to consider:

1) Our contract is currently closed for the 2022-2023 school year, and we are not having negotiation meetings with the district.  Our contract states that we will open negotiations for our 2023-2024 salary sometime in the Spring. A yes or no vote on this district offer will not affect the Faculty Association’s ability to negotiate a salary increase for the 2023-2024 school year.

2) The classified employees in the SMJUHSD (CSEA), are currently in negotiations with the district regarding their salary. As many of their members mentioned at the October Board meeting, CSEA wants a livable wage for all their members.

3) If our voting results show that our members are interested in having our 2022-2023 salary schedule changed, I will sign the attached Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and send it to the district. If our voting results show that members do not want our 2022-2023 salary schedule changed, I will not sign the attached MOU. Either way, our CTA Staff Consultant and a CTA Lawyer have both recommended that we take a ratification vote of our FA Members.

4) If you are interested in how this change would affect your salary, please see the attached 2022-2023 salary schedule. In the far-right column, I have calculated approximate dollar amounts for a new column five. I have also given an example on how to calculate your new salary depending on your current placement on the salary schedule. Additionally, to find your one-time payment of 3%, multiply your new salary by .03. (For example, the new bottom right corner will total approximately $119,195.) ($119,195 times .03 equals approximately $3575. That would be your one-time payment if your salary placement was in the bottom right corner.) (Please note that the 2022-2023 salary would not increase by 6.56% but would increases from 2% to 6.56%. This is approximately a 4.47% increase to our current 2% for the 2022-2023 school year.)

5) All Stipends and other pay attached to the salary schedule would increase as a result of an increase to the salary schedule. The $30 per hour that some people receive for doing extra work would not increase and the $55 per In-Lieu payout would not change.

6) If you are wondering why the district would make us such an offer, I thought exactly the same thing. So, I asked them, and their response was, because they thought it was the right thing to do.

7) Here is a link to the CDE’s website showing COLA for the last 10 years. https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/lcffcola.asp

8) If after reading this email, you have additional questions, I will be available via ZOOM on Thursday, October 27 from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM to answer your questions.
Here is the Zoom link: https://smjuhsd-org.zoom.us/j/87254936821

9) Please look for a ballot from Simply Voting starting on Friday, October 28 at 8:00 AM. Voting will end on Monday, October 31 at 12:30 PM.

Thank you for your time,

Matt Provost