CVUSD teacher contract negotiations continue
UPDATE: 6:04 p.m.
After nearly a year and a half, Coachella Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) and Coachella Valley Teachers Association (CVTA) officials are still in the midst of agreeing on contract packages for teachers. Negotiations stalled after a special meeting Wednesday night. CVUSD Superintendent of Schools Dr. Darryl Adams also announced his resignation due to medical reasons following the meeting. Teachers like CVTA 1st Vice President and Bargaining Chair Carissa Carrera say their ultimate goal is to have contracts competitive to neighboring districts. “We started the year with almost 30 or more vacancies this year, and we have lots of classes filled with unqualified teachers this year,” Carrera said. “So, we need to be able to retain. Recruit them first, retain them and our students deserve good quality teachers.” Meanwhile, district officials said recent discussions have been focused around fact-finding, with both sides presenting their cases. “Both sides got to be able to present to a panel of three,” CVUSD Acting Superintendent of Schools Greg Fromm said. “One panel member is a representative from the district appointed by us, and the teachers have a member that they appointed. Then, there’s a neutral who’s not associated with either side.” Both district and union officials said they’ll expect a report back within 30 days from the neutral member of the fact-finding panel. After that, they’ll have 10 days between each other to try and talk a deal. “It is still our goal to reach a multiple-year agreement with our teachers,” Fromm said. “That is our goal from the beginning, and we are not able to give up on that.” Both district officials and teachers said they hope happens sooner rather than later. “It sort of seems like they’ve been playing games for several months, so we’re not quite sure what’s going on,” Carrera said. “But, ideally I would like to get a good settlement that makes everybody happy.” Fromm said district officials couldn’t discuss Adams’ resignation further, other than it not having an effect on the fact-finding process moving forward. Union officials said they are preparing for a potential strike. However, district officials say they do not intend on collaborating with teachers on a solution based upon the fact-finding report.
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ORIGINAL STORY: 5:18 p.m.
We’re going in-depth regarding the change in leadership within the Coachella Valley Unified School District as teacher association officials continue to work on contract negotiations.
Contract negotiations between teachers and district officials stalled again after a special meeting Wednesday night. During that time, Dr. Darryl Adams announced he would be stepping down as superintendent of the district due to medical reasons.
With contract talks now in the fact-finding phase, both sides hope to come down to a deal soon.
KESQ and CBS Local 2’s Zak Dahlheimer spoke to district officials on Thursday to get a better idea of what’s to be expected in the near future following Dr. Adam’s announcement.
Watch CBS Local 2 at 5:30 and KESQ News Channel 3 and 6 p.m. for more details.
