By Kathryn Cross
Staff Writer
At the Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting on Oct. 1, the Board ratified the Manhattan Beach chapter of the California School Employees Association’s collective bargaining agreement for the 2013-2014 school year.
The CSEA is the California public schools’ employee union for support staff, which includes employees whose jobs do not require a credential, such as secretaries and janitors. MBUSD’s agreement with CSEA includes a five percent salary raise that integrates health benefits, professional development depending on the staff member, such as training in Common Core for instructional assistants, written layoff notices 60 days in advance rather than the previous 45 days and other principles that will be negotiated again in the 2014-15 school year’s bargaining agreement.
“I think the members of CSEA really wanted to gain professional development,” MBUSD Executive Director of Human Resources Carolyn Seaton said. “It is going to have to be varied since our staff has many different needs.”
The professional development portion of the agreement includes recognition for CSEA members who take a college course that improves their performance in the workplace. In this Profesional Development Incentive Program, CSEA and MBUSD will use stipends to incentivize these self-improvement measures. These incentives will be based on a point system, where $200 is given for each 20 points.
“Professional development will help MBUSD schools run,” Seaton said. “It will also keep the CSEA members orderly and efficient.”
According to MBUSD Superintendent Michael Matthews, the bargaining agreement includes a five percent raise for every CSEA member as Manhattan Beach Unified Teachers Association members received a five percent raise this past school year.
“MBUTA and CSEA both get the same raise, which includes health benefits,” Matthews said.
MBUSD and CSEA also agreed to take part in a joint committee that will attempt to mitigate district costs by at least one percent through health benefits; however, CSEA members will still receive health benefits.
“Some of the main issues we faced had to do with salary and health benefits, but we were pleased with the outcome,” Matthews said. “I would say that the CSEA negotiations went more smoothly than the MBUTA negotiations this year. The CSEA negotiations were very collaborative.”
This agreement will last through June 30 2016 unless it is altered when CSEA negotiations are reopened.
“Conversations with CSEA are constructive, so I look forward to solving problems together in the future,” Matthews said.
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