#superintendent-contract-extension

#superintendent-contract-extension

With an $850 million budget for 33,000 students, OUSD has the highest per-pupil costs of any large district in the county, Castro said. But district leaders' habit of making financial plans and then abandoning them imperils OUSD's future.

Parents allege that the Sequoia Union High School Board circumvented the state's open meeting laws by discussing the school's closure in private text messages, which they claim violates the Brown Act.

The district and the teachers' union are submitting a plan to add five more days to the current school year to offset the strike. The last day of school would no longer be on June 3, it would now be on June 10. Mission Local also adds that high school finals week and graduation would be unaffected.

The last three months have been tumultuous in the district. The community was divided by a surprise move in January to add ethnic studies to the high school curriculum, a class that Chinese and Jewish families felt was discriminatory. When new board member Rowena Chiu said publicly she felt bullied by other "woke" school board members for questioning the class, all hell broke loose.

The UFT has a good faith basis to believe that 'Jose Tricoche' is Ms. Lynch-Reyes' spouse, Miguel Reyes. The UFT demands that the Department immediately cease and desist from engaging in fraudulent and defamatory online attacks of UFT representatives, including Adam Shapiro, and from unlawfully interfering with the Union's representation function in District 21.

Over the past few weeks leading up to the teachers strike, Superintendent Maria Su repeatedly told the press and labor negotiators that dipping into the district's over $400 million reserves was, simply, "not an option." But projected spending shows that the district will significantly spend its reserves to pay for its labor agreements, potentially depleting its "restricted funding" by 2028.

The Palo Alto Unified School District is in the middle of at least 11 different lawsuits, including cases that allege unchecked bullying, racist attacks, injured students, inadequate special education and retaliation by district leadership.

The contract, which is retroactive to July 2025 and runs through June 30, 2027, was approved by 84% of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers (BFT) membership, which includes 900 teachers, counselors, substitutes, school psychologists and librarians in the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD). The agreement will provide a 3% salary increase this school year and another 3% raise next year, plus a one-time $1,000 bonus.

Cuts that hurt are obvious: layoffs, program closures, college closures, furloughs, deferred maintenance, pay freezes, travel freezes, etc. It's a well-worn playbook at this point. Most of the moves in this category involve either attacking employee compensation, which causes obvious pain, or putting off necessary investments and living with gradual declines in quality.

The central aspect of the PACE plan calls for removing the state superintendent as the head of the California Department of Education. Instead, that department would be run by an appointee of the state Board of Education. Members of the state board are appointed by the governor to fixed four-year terms. The PACE report envisions the "governor as the chief architect and steward responsible for aligning and advancing California's education system."

Ontario's education minister placed a seventh school board under supervision Wednesday in order to prevent dozens of teachers from being laid off, he says, and he is planning to soon take control of another board over financial concerns. Paul Calandra announced that he has put Peel District School Board under supervision and is giving the York Catholic District School Board two weeks to make a case for avoiding the same fate.

Protecting students from immigration raids was a priority for state legislators this year, resulting in several new laws, including one prohibiting school staff from allowing immigration officers to enter campuses or providing student or family information. The most controversial of the new laws is one meant to target antisemitism, although amendments made during the legislative session resulted in a bill that defines discrimination more broadly.

The Palo Alto Unified School District will pay former Superintendent Don Austin $596,802 in exchange for his resignation, according to a settlement agreement obtained by the Post today (Feb. 24). The payments add up to 17 months of his salary. This includes his $35,106 monthly paycheck through June 30, a $331,272 payment on Aug. 1, and a $90,000 payment on Jan. 15.

Teachers have almost no authority over student behaviors or academic grading, and are given little, if any, respect from administrators, parents or even students. Instead, students have all the authority but no responsibility for their success. Students do (or don't do) whatever they wish, while empty-handed teachers are left to take the blame. Teachers no longer have the ultimate tool of flunking students.

A group of students who are eager to learn about advanced math are asking for multivariable calculus, and teacher Daniel Nguyen has obtained a master's degree in order to teach it. The school board told Paly to add the class on Dec. 16, but the teachers council said no. Apparently the school is run by a committee of teachers, called the council of administrators and instructors, who oppose adding the class.

Los Alto School District board trustee Vladimir Ivanovic is resigning in protest over the district's plan to build a new campus for Bullis charter school, a move he believes will impose a large tax burden on residents and jeopardize future bond measures. The long-time trustee announced his decision at the board's meeting on Jan. 12, and submitted his resignation letter. Ivanovic, whose four-year term was set to expire in December, will stay in the position until March 11.

The move is in accordance with Assembly Bill 1390, which allows for increases between $600 and $4,500 per month, based on the average daily attendance in the prior school year. Previously, the rate was $60 to $1,500 per month. Four of the five members of Antioch's board of trustees voted to increase their pay, which will impact the district's general fund $96,000 more annually.