Rancho Santa Fe teachers and district begin contract negotiations

The Rancho Santa Fe School District received the initial proposal from the Rancho Santa Fe Faculty Association for its 2016-19 collective bargaining agreement at its Feb. 4 meeting. Contract negotiations will now begin between the district and the association for the 2016-19 school years.

“The professional teaching staff of the Rancho Santa Fe School District consists of the highest caliber educators who continually go above and beyond to create the best learning environment for our students,” said Danika Severino, vice president of the Rancho Santa Fe Faculty Association and member of the negotiating team. “Our goal in this negotiation is to compensate our professional teaching staff in a way that is competitive with surrounding school districts.”

By remaining competitive in salaries and benefits, Severino said the district would have the ability to retain and attract the highest quality educators.

In June 2015, the school board approved a retroactive 3 percent off-schedule raise for the 2014-15 school year and a 3 percent on-schedule salary increase for 2015-16.

Starting in 1996-97, Rancho Santa Fe teachers consistently received a bump in salary of about 3.5 percent a year, going up to 4.5 percent in 2007-08. There had not been an increase since the 2008-09 school year, although teachers have received off-salary increases, which are like end-of-the-year bonuses.

In the upcoming negotiations, Severino said the faculty association would like to review articles on salary, benefits and rights, as well as review several board policies, including the policies regarding enrollment of children of district employees and salary schedule goals.

“The faculty and the school board have always had a relationship built on mutual respect,” Severino said. “We look forward to continuing that partnership.”