_{Thumbnail: Del Norte Teachers Association and Del Norte Unified School District logos.}

Contract negotiations between the union representing local teachers and Del Norte Unified School District have hit an impasse with a dispute over salaries being the primary roadblock.

DNUSD is offering a one-time cash bonus of $750 per certificated employee. Del Norte Teachers Association negotiators are pushing for ongoing salary increases for union members. But with COVID dollars having run out and the potential for millions in budget cuts in the next few months, DNUSD officials say the district can’t afford the union’s ask.

DNTA President Amber Tiedeken-Cron, who teaches seventh- and eighth-grade history and math at Smith River School, doesn’t buy that explanation.

“We don’t want to have members come back to the table next year to fight for the exact same amount,” she told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. “We understand the budget isn’t great for the State of California. But if we weren’t looking at the district sitting on this huge chunk of reserve money, we might be less inclined [to ask] for something ongoing.”

However, a significant portion of DNUSD’s ending fund balance in its projected 2024-25 budget are restricted dollars that can only be used for specific programs and purposes, Superintendent Jeff Harris said Friday. Plus, he said, this year’s cost of living adjustment, or COLA, doesn’t cover the district’s ongoing costs.

“When you think about cutting budgets, not only are you cutting budgets because of COVID dollars going away,” he said, “you’re also cutting budgets because of reduced revenue.”

Both sides have reached an impasse, though Tiedeken-Cron said she anticipates negotiations resuming now that winter break is over.

DNTA rejected the district’s offer on Dec. 3, DNUSD Assistant Superintendent of Business Jeff Napier told the Board of Trustees at its Dec. 12 meeting. The district is unwilling to provide on-going salary increases due to the current fiscal climate, he said, adding that he would be filing impasse documents with the California Public Employment Relations Board.

DNTA and Del Norte Unified began contract negotiations in March. In addition to an increase in salaries, DNTA negotiators are pushing for district support for increased health and welfare costs as well as “parameters around our extra duties,” according to a Dec. 19 email from DNTA executive board member Emily Caldwell to union members.

Those extra duties include attending meetings outside the teacher’s work day, Tiedeken-Cron said. Teachers often meet with parents for conferences or to discuss a student’s individual education plan after hours, she said.

“We’re asking [the district] to do something to help us out,” Tiedeken-Cron said. “Make sure they’re scheduled during our duty day and have someone cover our class a little bit. Or, after so many hours, compensate people.”

According to Caldwell, either side can declare an impasse if they’re unable to agree on a contract’s terms. This starts a formal process during which a neutral mediator steps in to help both sides communicate with each other to find common ground.

The mediator helps the district and DNTA talk through their differences, Caldwell said.

If both parties are still unable to come to an agreement, after two to three months, they reach the fact-finding stage. This involves one DNTA representative, one DNUSD representative and a neutral “fact-finder,” Caldwell said.

The fact-finder reviews the district’s budget, staff salaries and proposals on both sides and then makes recommendations on how to resolve the disagreement, Caldwell said. These recommendations aren’t binding, she said.

If both sides still disagree, DNTA may vote on a strike or DNUSD may impose their “last best and final offer,” Caldwell said.

“If all other avenues are exhausted we may elect to strike,” she told DNTA members via email.

According to DNUSD’s First Interim Financial Report, presented to the Board on Dec. 12, the district is expecting $75.3 million in state, federal and local revenues and $79.7 million in expenditures for the 2024-25 fiscal year. The district’s projected ending fund balance is $26.1 million, Director of Fiscal Services Greg Bowen told trustees.

Of that projected ending fund balance, $12.2 million is restricted funding, Bowen said.

The budget Bowen presented to trustees on Dec. 12 was a qualified budget that accounted for a total of 92 staff vacancies. Fifty-seven of those vacancies were in the special education program, he told trustees, though Board President Charlaine Mazzei noted that those positions are filled by providers that are contracted with the school district.

According to Harris, the budget’s qualified status means that, as things currently stand, the school district may not be able to meet its payroll obligations for the current fiscal year and the next two fiscal years.

“We could be negative,” he said, adding that if you’re negative you won’t be able to meet your financial obligations for the current fiscal year and next two years. “If we’re negative then we start looking at state intervention and, again, if there were ongoing increases there would have to be deeper cuts.”

Bowen’s First Interim Budget Report included a projected deficit of $5.8 million. This is a change from the original projected deficit of $11.68 million, he said.

In its unrestricted budget, which is used to pay for the district’s operations, Bowen projected a $2.4 million deficit for 2024-25. He said the deficit may increase to $4.4 million in 2025-26 and $6.3 million in 2026-27.

“This is our biggest area of concern,” Bowen said. 

According to Bowen, the deficit is related to district positions that were created with Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief dollars — funding allocated to California school districts through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.

DNUSD no longer receives those funds, Harris said, and are living off of the funding those COVID dollars helped to offset.

“What the Board is doing is they are looking at programs that have shown some success,” Harris said. “They’re looking at programs that don’t have any verifiable results. They’re looking at positions that may not have existed prior to COVID that they would like to keep, but they’re also looking at positions that existed prior to COVID dollars that are no longer necessary.”

On Thursday, Tiedeken-Cron said one reason DNTA is pushing for the ongoing increases as well as the decrease in adjunct hours and support with its health and welfare costs is to be able to attract and retain new teachers. The stalemate both sides are in makes that difficult since the California Teachers Association tracks the districts that are at an impasse with their teachers unions as well as which ones have settled and what they settled for, she said.

Those potential new teachers will be able to see how many times DNUSD and DNTA have been at an impasse, Tiedeken-Cron said, and may change their minds about relocating to Del Norte County.

“It’s embarrassing because it doesn’t make your district look super functional if every year they’re dragging their feet,” she said. “The minute we get to money, every year the brakes come on. Even on years when it’s not a full contract. … It’s become the norm and it’s not helping our PR.”

DNTA negotiators will try to resume discussions with the school district after winter break, Tiedeken-Cron said. They’ll also likely meet with CTA representative Lathe Gill, who represents Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity counties.