By Maggie Robak
Staff Writer
Manhattan Beach Unified Teachers’ Association teachers approved an agreement with the Manhattan Beach Unified School District on April 22, with a 5:1 vote in favor.
The agreement included changes to the evaluation, salary, health and welfare benefits, and stipends clauses of the contract. The contract will cover the teachers for the 2011-12 school year and is effective on July 1, 2011.
“As this contract avoids the furlough days, pay cuts, and benefit reductions that many school districts are suffering, it represents a fair and reasonable agreement for the teachers of MBUSD,” MBUTA Vice President and bargaining chair Wayne Knutson said.
The contract states that there will be no salary change for the 2011-12 year. However, there will be a 1 percent increase in stipends for teachers with extra duties. Additionally, new stipends have been added or increased for over 50 teaching positions that have extra-cirruculars or Advanced Placement study sessions.
A stipend for teachers who hold Advanced Placement review sessions has also been added. Unlike the others, these increases will become effective for this school year as well as 2011-12.
“The AP study session stipend will ensure that sessions are a permanent fixture at Mira Costa, rather than teachers and students waiting to see if the district will pay teachers for holding them each year,” MBUTA President Rachel Thomas said.
Mira Costa teachers and staff voted on the tentative agreement and are awaiting the approval of this new plan by the MBUSD board’s vote to finalize it after its approval.
“We are happy with the way the agreement turned out,” MBUSD board President Bill Fournell said. “In this contract we do not have any layoffs or furloughed days and that is something to be happy about.”
The final change that was made to the contract was concerning the Evaluation and Health and Welfare Benefits committees. MBUSD and MBUTA both agreed that these committees should continue to meet and discuss alternatives and make recommendations to both parties.
“Although modest, these changes recognize and encourage those teachers who work with students outside of the normal school day,” Knutson said. “Without the economic benefits these stipends represent, it would be extremely difficult for Mira Costa to offer the extra-curricular activities that make it successful.”
Overall, both the MBUSD and MBUTA are satisfied with the tentative agreement.
“We are in an award-winning district, and teachers should really be compensated to represent the commitment they give to our Manhattan Beach students,” Thomas said. “This compensation ensures that these teachers will continue to be completely committed at the highest level to provide to our students.”
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