PALMDALE – The Palmdale Elementary Teachers Association (PETA) voted Thursday night to accept the Tentative Agreement for the 2012/2014 negotiations.
A total of 822 teachers voted with the following results: 792 yes and 30 no.
The Tentative Agreement offers a 1.5% increase on the teacher salary schedule. In addition, the agreement includes an increase in the Health Benefit’s to $16,750 annually with a soft cap. Any increase or decrease in health and welfare benefit premiums will be shared equally between the District and PETA unit members. Further, the agreement also establishes Class Size Reduction for Transitional Kindergarten through third grade.
“This is an exciting day for Palmdale School District and PETA,” stated Pauline Winbush, Interim Superintendent. “It demonstrates the positive change taking place in the District and is an excellent example of how working together will benefit us all – students, parents, employees and the community.”
“This is a great compromise,” stated Hugo Estrada, PETA President. “I am glad that we were able to get back to the table and come to an agreement.” Estrada continued, “We have confidence that our new board will continue to make decisions that will help us focus on providing each child with a rigorous and relevant academic education.”
Chad Gray, Director of Human Resources stated, “What a great day for Palmdale School District employees. We are expecting the momentum shift to continue moving towards more collaboration, as the District and PETA work together for the good of our students and our District as a whole.”
The Tentative Agreement will be presented to the Palmdale School District’s Board of Trustees for ratification at the next Board Meeting on February 18, 2014.
Maria Molina, Palmdale School District Board President stated, “I applaud our teachers for being persistent. They have worked really hard during the times when we were unable to give any raises, so I am glad that we are able to give them a raise, an increase in benefits and reduce their classroom size. Our teachers are great, and we know this will have a positive impact in our classrooms.”
(Information via press release from Palmdale School District.)
Fred says
Hey…I thought Nancy Smith said she found 30 million. How come we only get a 1.5% increase at 3 million cost to the district. Shouldn’t we be getting a 15% raise if she found 30 million?
Oh, and we made a mistake focusing on benefits. We should have focused on pay raises. Benefits don’t add a penny to our retirement. Higher salaries do. My 1.5% pay raise will add 1.5% to my retirement pay. Be nice if we get an additional 14.5% because that will benefit ALL of us in the long run. We need to stop looking at the end of our noses and peer at the horizon!
Hey…I’ll take the 1.5% though. :)
Quigley says
PSD is on the mend and will once again shine in the community. Pauline Winbush knows what went wrong and how to fix it if given the opportunity, she’s got my vote! Molina is a stand up gal and along with the NEW board members PSD will once again be the strongest district in the AV! Respect & fairness go along way which is something this district has lacked for years! Congratulations to the kids, parents, and employees!
Ernie Bridges says
I applaud the efforts of both parties. Mutual respect and dignity abound. Thank you all. Our turn is next and we are eagerly waiting to go to bat. We will be doing our best to bring our bring the support levels back to par so we can better assist you to teach our kids.