Rocklin Unified School District and Rocklin’s teachers union reached a tentative salary agreement for the 2017-18 school year during a Tuesday night meeting, averting a possible strike nearly a month into the academic year, the district announced.þþRocklin Unified and Rocklin Teachers Professional Association agreed to a 1.95 percent salary and stipend increase as well as a $20 per month increase to the health benefit cap for the past academic year, the district said in a news release.þþNegotiations between the parties are still ongoing for the 2018-19 school year, the district said.þþThe district and RTPA had been negotiating terms regarding wages, benefits, special education policies and safety training for the 2017-18 academic year since May 2017. School started Aug. 15 for Rocklin Unified teachers and students.þþ“By settling, we will not be in a strike status, which then can give everybody a moment to breathe,” RTPA representative Colleen Crowe said.þþCrowe called the 2017-18 deal “a step in the right direction,” but said a better compensation package would be necessary for the 2018-19 deal to attract incoming teachers.þþRocklin Unified announced in early August that it would pay substitute teachers $425 per day in the event of a strike.þþIn a news release detailing the most recent negotiations before Tuesday, the school district said it met with the RTPA all day on Aug. 31 to discuss a deal.þþAt that time, RTPA’s proposal asked for a 2.5 percent salary increase for 2017-18. The school district’s proposal allowed for a 1.4 percent increase. The salary increase of 1.95 percent agreed upon is the exact middle ground of those numbers.þþRocklin Unified’s Aug. 31 offer also allowed for what it called “significant additions” to language guiding special education and related safety protocols.þþThe offer included the establishment of a joint Special Education Solutions Panel, which would focus on unaddressed concerns regarding class size, instructional materials, curriculum, support, policies and protocols and a number of other areas.þþCrowe said two of the main biggest focuses for 2018-19 negotiations are special education and safety.þþ“I believe the district is on board with the safety piece, and we’re trying to get them on board with special education too,” Crowe said.þþA representative from Rocklin Unified could not be immediately reached for comment.þþRocklin Unified also reached an agreement with the California School Employees Association, a two-year compensation package totaling a 5.45 percent increase, as announced Aug. 21 in a news release.þþ
Source: sacbee.com
