This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Novato School District Reaches Tentative Deal with Teachers Union

Novato Federation of Teachers is expected to ratify the deal on Friday. Novato teachers haven't worked under a longterm contract since 2009.

Years of negotiating futility in Novato's public schools appear to be over.

The Novato Unified School District and the Novato Federation of Teachers have reached a tentative agreement on a three-year contract.

The tentative deal was confirmed by parties on both ends of the negotiating table.

Find out what's happening in Novatowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

If approved, Novato teachers would be working under a longterm contract for the first time since their last deal expired in 2009.

The tentative agreement calls for a 1 percent retroactive raise for this school year and a 3 percent hike for next year.

Find out what's happening in Novatowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The 3 percent pay hike will not be across-the-board, with more experienced teachers getting a bigger bump and less experienced ones receiving a lower amount, an NUSD official confirmed.

The NFT represents 415 instructors at all of the city's K-through-12 public schools.

The NUSD also reached a separate deal with the California School Employees Association representing support staff, which includes teacher's assistants, bus drivers, and food service employees.

“It's not signed and sealed yet, but I can confirm we have a tentative agreement that is out for ratification,” NFT President Aaron Fix said.

The NFT will vote on the deal on Friday.

“I would be surprised if it wasn't” ratified, Fix said.

The tentative agreement was reached on Friday, NUSD Human Resources Director Pam Conklin said. The deal culminates a yearlong negotiating process.

The tentative agreement includes provisions limiting class sizes.

“I thought it was probably the best negotiations that we've had in years,” Conklin said. “Very amicable and very collaborative in spirit, truly working towards a common a goal.

“We developed some better understanding or our respective positions. I really think it went very favorably.”

Fix echoed his negotiating counterpart's sentiments, saying “I believe it's a good deal.”

“It was a hard negotiation and like any good compromise neither side came out totally happy, but I think we were able to strike a good deal.”


We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?