CAUSE – Open Letter
CUSD Ratifies & Announces
INCORRECT TENTATIVE AGREEMENT
CAUSE Demands Formal Resolution; Without Further Delay
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Dear CUSD Superintendent Diane Rigby:
Union Leadership has learned that CUSD Leadership, at its last CUSD School Board Meeting (held on April 11, 2023), did not the ratify the actual TENTATIVE AGREEMENTS – CARPINTERIA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT /CARPINTERIA ASSOCIATION OF UNITED SCHOOL EMPLOYEES, AFT #2216 (AFL/CIO) – March 3, 2023.
Instead, the District ratified an incorrect version of these TENTATIVE AGREEMENTS . This is demonstrated in the District’s School Board meeting attachments found on the District’s website:
https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/SB_Meetings/ViewMeeting.aspx?S=36030718&MID=19848
The District’s error is also demonstrated in the follow up notifications provided by your office on Friday, April 14, 2023.
In these examples, you will see that the CUSD ratified the incorrect 2024 – 2025 Calendar – TENTATIVE AGREEMENTS, where the CUSD instead ratified its last District proposal, versus our actual 2024 – 2025 Calendar – TENTATIVE AGREEMENTS. The District’s last proposal attempted to shorten the WINTER BREAK to two weeks, which as you and District Leadership are aware, was not supported by Union Leadership or the collective employees we represent. [ After years of back and forth on this very issue, this was not an insignificant detail ]
For the time being, Union Leadership will act on the assumption that the District’s actions were an error. Therefore, CAUSE Leadership demands that the District both:
(A) Act immediately to resolve this issue by taking all necessary steps to reverse its actions, correct the record, and ratify the correct TENTATIVE AGREEMENTS.
(B) Review its entire ratification efforts thoroughly, to identify other similar errors that may exist in the District’s efforts to ratify said TENTATIVE AGREEMENTS.
Meanwhile, Union Leadership hopes that this error does not further delay the District’s obligation to provide District employees retro-compensation payments associated with the SALARY & BENEFIT agreements reached in these TENTATIVE AGREEMENTS, which include an 8% increase to the salary-schedule, retro to all income tied to the salary schedule earned from July, 2022 forward.
Please feel free to contact Union Leadership if you have any questions.
Respectfully,
~ j. Hotchner CAUSE Leadership