Despite budget concerns, LASD teachers to get raises

School officials at the Los Altos School District have agreed to give 3 percent raises to teachers and other employees this year, citing the high cost of living and steep competition with other school districts as key reasons to raise compensation.

The school district and the Los Altos Teachers Association negotiated a three-year contract during the 2013-14 school year that would bring teacher salaries up by 10 percent over a three-year period. But last August, the school board agreed to re-open the contract and reconsider giving the final 3 percent raise amid worries that the district may blow through its reserves in the coming years, prompting layoffs and other drastic cuts.

The looming possibility that the district’s $193 parcel tax will expire without a renewal in the November election added to the concerns that the budget could be pretty tight in the coming years.

After six negotiation meetings, the district agreed to go ahead with the 3 percent raise after all. Laurel McNeil, president of the Los Altos Teachers Association, announced at the Jan. 25 board meeting that the teachers voted overwhelmingly in favor of ratifying the agreement, which will go to the school board for a final vote later this month.

“We are thrilled to have reached a tentative agreement,” Luther said. “So I’m very pleased to have that over with.”

The deal brokered between the district and its teacher and classified employee unions maintain the raises in the existing contract, which will cost the district about $1 million, according to Assistant Superintendent Randy Kenyon. The raises will take effect retroactively from Jan. 1.

Kenyon described the decision as re-prioritzing the district’s spending goals, and said it’s important to compensate staff in an environment where it’s harder to attract and retain quality teachers. Not just because of the high cost of living, he said, but because other school districts are using recent windfalls in state funding to pour more money into salaries. Los Altos has had to face “stiffer and stiffer competition,” he said.

Board member Sangeeth Peruri admitted he was still worried about the district’s future financial picture, but agreed that it was the right move to supplement teacher salaries since the cost of living continues to rapidly out-pace teacher salaries.

“Teachers, especially our beginning teachers, are having to feed their families and commute and pay the rent,” Peruri said. “They’re putting in a lot of hours for our kids, so I’m comfortable that we’re making this move.”

Board member Vladimir Ivanovic said he read through the teacher comments and said he didn’t realize “the depth and breadth of some of the issues teachers are having” in the district, and that he wanted to help alleviate some of the problems they experienced.

At the same time, he said he wanted teachers to understand that many of the problems they face are outside of the district’s control, and long-standing limitations on school district budgets through legislation like Proposition 13 will continue to be the driving force behind salary issues.

The agreement may bring a sigh of relief for teachers in the district, but it won’t last long. The district is scheduled to head right back into negotiations with the teacher’s union in March to work out the details on a new three-year contract. And the high cost of living in the Bay Area will likely continue to be the central concern for teachers and district officials.

“It’s not going to get easier to keep (teachers) here,” Ivanovic said. “It’s only going to get harder.”