Brittney Cairns, lead negotiator for the Santa Rosa Academy certificated staff union, speaks during an Oct. 6 town hall with SRA Union Vice President Tara Younker.
Santa Rosa Academy educators are calling for competitive pay and changes to working conditions as contract negotiations continue between the school and its certificated staff union.
Teachers, parents and students gathered Oct. 6 for a town hall hosted by the union, where representatives outlined their bargaining priorities. Brittney Cairns, the union’s lead negotiator, said negotiations have been ongoing since February, and the entire contract was reopened because of concerns with vague or poorly written language.
Cairns said the union is now waiting for Santa Rosa Academy to provide its proposal on salaries and benefits, which she said the union has requested twice. Bargaining is scheduled to resume Friday.
The union has called its bargaining effort the “Campaign for Respect,” which focuses on three areas: compensation, expertise and environment. Teachers said they are seeking more competitive salaries, greater input in decisions affecting their classrooms and more flexibility in workplace policies.
Union representatives said low compensation has contributed to difficulty retaining teachers. A salary comparison presented by the union ranked Santa Rosa Academy’s starting teacher salary 19th among the 20 charter schools included in the comparison.
Menifee Teachers Association President Lee Eddy, who previously taught at Santa Rosa Academy for seven years, said his daughter had five math teachers in one semester while attending the school, an example he used to illustrate the effects of teacher turnover.
“Raising salaries, you’ll have teachers stay,” Eddy said. “These teachers want to stay at Santa Rosa, but the economics practically force them out.”
Union representatives also pointed to Santa Rosa Academy’s financial reserves while discussing compensation. SRA Union Vice President Tara Younker said the school maintains reserves equal to more than 60 percent of a year’s expenditures. Cairns said the school is projected to end the current year with a roughly $1 million surplus after ending the previous year with a roughly $1.5 million surplus.
Teachers raised concerns about whether their professional expertise is considered in decisions affecting instruction. Cynthia Nadolny, a Santa Rosa Academy math teacher with 20 years of teaching experience, said the math department has pushed to change the order in which some courses are taught but has been unsuccessful.
“They just want to do it their way. It’s the SRA way,” Nadolny said. “That’s what we get told all the time, ‘This is just the way we do it.’”
Teachers described the third area, environment, as a lack of flexibility and collaboration with administration. Cairns, who teaches high school at Santa Rosa Academy and has two children attending the school, pointed to her experience balancing those roles.
“As a parent, I’m not given access to see my children do things on campus,” she said. “I have to put in sick time if I want to walk over to the gym and watch my daughter get an award for five minutes and then come back to my classroom.”
Cairns said the policy reflects broader concerns among teachers about a lack of flexibility from administration.
Santa Rosa Academy was contacted for comment but did not respond by the publication deadline.
The Santa Rosa Academy Board of Directors will meet Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 5 p.m. in the school library.
