And we are off! What a start to the school year! Your Temecula Valley Educators Association representatives and committee members were busy representing the voices within TVEA.

To this date, 78 new members have joined TVEA through a new hire event, return from leave of absences, joining for the first time, and individual onboarding sessions as they are hired to meet staffing needs. There is a diversity joining as veteran, newly credentialed, and some who are now on intern and emergency credentials to help us staff classrooms and positions. They are super excited to start their experience in TVUSD and ready to accept the challenge of working with their teams to support students in their academic journey.

I have heard journeys on how they came to education in California. Some moving from non-unionized states where salaries are depressed and teaching and learning conditions are detrimental to a student’s access to education. Having to work multiple jobs after teaching a full day to provide the bare necessities for their family. Others switching careers to achieve a greater work-life balance and spend more time with their loved ones. But what binds us all together is our commitment to public education, advocating for teaching and learning conditions that will enable us to be successful in educating the youth of our community. If we are successful, students are successful.

A topic that is in the top of everyone’s minds is where are we in the process for bargaining compensation for this year? While our contract is settled through June 2024, compensation for this year is unsettled. As addressed in the previous message on August 11, dates are now set to meet with TVUSD. Your TVEA Budget AdHoc team meets on September 13 and your TVEA Bargaining team meets on September 18. From these meetings, each team will be able to report out on where we are.

Currently, your TVEA Bargaining team is acting under the guidance of the TVEA Executive Board’s and Leadership Council’s May meetings to make gains on prevailing wages in the area. At the Governing Board Meeting on August 22nd, I emphasized our expectation that TVUSD come to the table to discuss a fair prevailing wage for the employees of this district. The current year COLA is 8.22%, and the previous year we settled in the spring and the base formula was increased by 2% in June. We look forward to fruitful talks with TVUSD.

In these short weeks and during the summer, your TVEA Bargaining team was able to finalize MOU’s to start an Agricultural program at TVHS created by the dynamic Meghan Manion, settled an Academic Calendar for Rancho Vista HS, added an opportunity to save money by waiving health insurance if you are already covered by a family member!

Elementary and middle school stipends were reinstated, an amount that was agreed on our previous settlement had sticking points, but individuals will have only duties limited to what they were already doing while participating in Site Leadership meetings. We hope that a true representation of a staff is incorporated in these committees in future iterations by allowing groups to elect their own representation.

Our TVEA colleagues are also investing a massive effort to open a new campus - Summit Academy and moving HIIA to a new campus centrally located in the district.

Your efforts to welcome students and families to campuses are key to the district’s success! Helping students get acclimated to new campuses and classrooms. Reaching out to parents with opportunities to be involved and strengthen the school parent connection. Providing an overview of the supports and communication channels during Back to School Nights to help parents advocate for their child’s education. You are true advocates for students and parents!

While there continues to be a tempest of action above us, you do a spectacular job of keeping the classroom smooth and fluid. Does that mean we are not affected? Absolutely not.

We currently are facing unprecedented challenges on our due process rights, as recent governing board actions create scenarios where educators face dubious choices that can place them at risk of discipline. These policies must be clarified to provide guidance to the employees of TVUSD to allow them to do their job. This could have been done through the consultation or bargaining process beforehand or after the first read. But no attempt was made.

Governing Board decisions are affecting how we do our job and instruct. Elementary teachers almost had no California adopted texts for this year, until the board reversed course and approved materials in July. Some schools have put out a blanket warning about classroom libraries, where teachers are pulling books or entire libraries for fear of district discipline or community harassment. While individuals have reached out to me for guidance, there is none, since the board has not provided any.

Another tide is a systematic effort to weaken our union, as organizations and an individual on the TVUSD board actively campaign for individuals to terminate their union membership with misleading information. Our union is based on our efforts to organize and maximize a student’s access to a quality education, engaging parent partnership and involvement, an effective work environment, and a fair prevailing wage. Standing together helps us advocate for each other!

While I continue to reach out and am ready, willing, and able to collaborate with any member of the board to reach common sense solutions that incorporate the voices of our members and our educational community, my communications go unanswered. It is disheartening to not have partners to work with in building the prestige of TVUSD. There are still plenty of opportunities where I hope this will change.