DSUSD agrees to raise teacher salaries
Desert Sands Unified School District reaches a tentative agreement with the Desert Sands Teacher’s Association regarding salary increases.
District officials said the agreement will now be presented to the DSTA membership for approval, however a prompt vote and approval by the board are expected. The agreement was reached after several months of negotiations.
The tentative agreement covers negotiations for the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years.
According to Superintendent Gary Rutherford, Ed.D., “The members of the Board of Education join me in thanking both the DSTA and DSUSD negotiating teams for their commitment to reaching this agreement. Both teams kept the education of our students as their priority.”
Major components of the tentative agreement are:
Effective July 1, 2014, the salary schedule for all Desert Sands Unified School District certificated employees (includes teachers, counselors, and others with qualified and current education certification) will increase by 2%. This increase will be retroactive to the first day of the 2014-2015 school year.
In addition, a 9.4% increase will become effective on the first day of the working schedule for the 2015-2016 school year due to two professional days that have been added to the work year, with a ‘pro rata’ salary increase
A $12,877 single medical cap becomes effective on the first day of the working schedule for the 2015-2016 school year
The members of the Desert Sands Teachers Association will add two professional development days to the work year
Annual instructional minutes will increase by 1800, an average of ten minutes of each school day. The increase in instructional time will impact only those school sites that are below the new minimum.
Those with a special education credential who are serving in a special education assignments will receive and increase in salary of 1.5%
Preparation time at grade levels early childhood education through 3rd grade will increase to 120 minutes per week
Desert Sands Unified School District serves over 29,000 students in the cities of Bermuda Dunes, Coachella, Indian Wells, Indio, La Quinta, Palm Desert, and Rancho Mirage. The district includes twenty elementary schools, seven middle schools, four comprehensive high schools, three alternative high schools, and eleven preschools.
