UPDATED Oct. 29, 1:48 p.m. — LLESD issued a statement detailing the terms of the new salary contract Sunday evening. Educators and other classified staff will receive a 7% salary increase paid retroactively for the 2023-24 school year, an additional 5% increase beginning Jan. 1, 2025, and an additional 4% salary increase beginning Jan. 1, 2026, amounting to a 16% raise over the next three years. Other benefits include the requested $3,358 stipend for all teachers, full health benefits, life insurance, and three additional instructional days for the 2024-25 school year. LLESD has not yet set the dates for the additional instructional days.
“We’re relieved to be returning to campus with our students, teachers and staff working together to restore our educational community,” Polito and Board President Heather Hopkins wrote. “As we move forward, we’ll need the help of the broader community to support the district’s rebuilding and rebalancing efforts.”
LLEA and LLESD will vote to ratify the contract in the beginning of November.
Oct 27, 8:05 p.m. — The Las Lomitas Educators Association and Las Lomitas Elementary School District reached an agreement on 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26 salary contracts Saturday night, ending a three-day strike over pay negotiations. Details of the final agreement have yet to be disclosed.
LLESD and LLEA released a joint statement announcing the strike’s end late Saturday night. “The strike has been called off and students and staff should return to their schools per usual starting Monday,” Superintendent Dr. Beth Polito wrote.
In a video posted on Instagram Saturday night, LLEA co-President Jennifer Montalvo announced a tentative agreement had been reached. “We feel good we were able to come to an agreement,” she said.
According to LLESD, teachers proposed an 8% raise for the 2023-24 school year and an additional 8% for the 2024-25 school year on Tuesday, the day before the strike commenced. The district countered this request that same day with an offer of a 7% raise for the 2023-24 school year and a compounded 3% for the 2024-25 school year, an extension of the $3,358 “tenure” stipend for all teachers granted July 1, 2024, and health benefits equivalent to 100% of a Kaiser individual plan beginning Jan. 1, 2025. LLEA did not accept this proposal.
The latest update prior to the announcement that an agreement has been reached also delineated the financial implications of the district’s current offer. A 10% raise for teachers and classified staff would create an annual deficit of approximately $3 million. To cope with this deficit, the district would likely need to implement significant budget cuts, which could potentially include cutting bus routes, expanding class sizes, and eliminating specific electives, learning support services, and mental health counseling.
Read more about the negotiation process and strike here.
