Monday, August 17, 2009
Get it Right!
For the record
2:00 a.m. August 16, 2009
An item in yesterday's Our South County section incorrectly stated that the Sweetwater Union High School District board will approve job titles and salaries for two assistant superintendents at its meeting tomorrow night. The board is eliminating the two positions.
The Union-Tribune regrets the error.
Union-Tribune
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/aug/16/record/
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Work to the Rule: Post Labor Day (Sept 8)
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2009/07/30/this_just_in/865union072909.txt
Sweetwater Union Plans to 'Work to the Rule'
Published: Thursday, July 30, 2009 6:26 AM PDT
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SHAREAfter another meeting between Sweetwater Union High School District and its teachers union failed to yield any agreement on their new contract last week, the union is planning to "work to the rule": asking teachers to only work as long as their contract requires, instead of putting in time before or after school.
"In order for us to be extremely effective -- and I think we are -- we put in an enormous amount of time beyond our contract hours," said Alex Anguiano, president of the teachers union. "So we'll withdraw those services."
The two sides have disagreed over whether to trim salaries, assign fewer teachers to schools, and offer different benefits to new employees than to current ones. Anguiano said teachers would begin working to the rule on September 8 unless they see some "meaningful movement" from the school district. Teachers' contract expired at the end of last June, and Sweetwater was sent back into the "fact finding" stage of impasse for the third time this year after failing to make progress at a meeting last Thursday.
The union has also filed a charge against the school district, alleging that it violated labor law by refusing to bargain and adopting larger class sizes without negotiating them with the union. Lillian Leopold, spokeswoman for the school district, said it was not the first time that teachers had worked to the rule as a protest action.
-- EMILY ALPERT
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Discrimination: Race & Gender --a lawsuit against district.
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/aug/08/1m8suit23210-suit-against-district-claims-discrimi/?uniontrib
Suit against district claims discrimination
2:00 a.m. August 8, 2009
CHULA VISTA — A former special-education administrator alleges in a lawsuit that she was fired by the Sweetwater Union High School District because she is a black woman.
Bernice Stanley worked as the assistant director of special education in Sweetwater for seven years before her position was eliminated in a reorganization of management posts during spring budget cuts.
Stanley's lawsuit, filed July 31 in Superior Court, contends that her dismissal constitutes discrimination based on race and gender. Stanley is black.
The Sweetwater district had no comment on the lawsuit yesterday.
The suit alleges a pattern of discrimination that thwarted Stanley's career advancement. It says the district bypassed her in choosing a white man as director in 2004, a white woman in 2005 and a Latino man in 2006. The suit alleges the men had fewer qualifications and experience than Stanley did.
The suit doesn't specify how much money Stanley seeks, but it contends she has suffered lost wages and benefits as well as emotional distress.
In an extensive reorganization of its managers in March, Sweetwater's board approved the elimination of dozens of positions and the creation of a smaller number of positions. Stanley's job ended June 30.
Stanley's suit says that she previously filed a complaint with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing and that the department decided not to pursue the matter.
SUHSD blames the victim....uppity union
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2009/08/05/education/schooled/692union080409.txt
Sweetwater: Union 'Systematically Delayed Negotiations'
Sweetwater Union High School District has filed a legal declaration countering allegations by its teachers union last month that it broke labor law. The two sides have been at odds over a new contract for more than a year.
The union has charged the school district with moving forward with parts of its contract proposal, including higher staffing ratios for teachers, without negotiating them with the union. Sweetwater's declaration, filed yesterday with the Public Employment Relations Board, states that the union has "systematically delayed negotiations" by repeatedly insisting that the school district meet with them "one more time" to avoid the next step of impasse. It argues that the charge filed by the union is baseless.
Delayed bargaining ended up "backing the District up against the statutory deadline for submitting a budget to the County Office of Education," the school district wrote, and by asking for the same pay and benefits that it currently has, the union is "conveniently turning a blind eye to the District's $11.6 million dollar (sic) deficit for the coming fiscal year." Keep checking back for updates on what becomes of the back-and-forth over the teachers' contract in Sweetwater.
-- EMILY ALPERT
Letter laments largesse (and we are not talking class size)
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/aug/08/mz1mc8letter204528-local-letters/?uniontrib
Gandara's salary obscene in tough times
The Sweetwater Union High School District has had to make significant cuts in the budget and recent moves by the state could force even more.
Yet the district wants to extend the contract of Superintendent Jesus Gandara for three years at a base salary of $251,000 plus $800 a month for expenses and another $750 for car expenses.
Gandara has conducted a top-down leadership style and dismissed or demoted highly respected and key personnel. It defies logic that he should receive such a salary in times like these.
MARY ANNE STRO
Chula Vista
Monday, August 3, 2009
More Board Meetings....July 30-reconvened--Aug 3 hire/pay 149K to new Curriculum Director
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July 24 article in SD Union Tribune
Hello blog devotees: please excuse tardy postings.
Surf's up and retirement has it's temptations.
School district to vote on contract extension
CHULA VISTA: The superintendent of South County's middle and high schools would have his contract extended through June 2012 under a proposal going to the Sweetwater Union High School District board Monday night.
It would be a one-year extension with no raise for Superintendent Jesus Gandara, whose annual salary is $250,920.
An updated clause in Gandara's contract would require him to inform the school board president if he is solicited by another school district to work there. His current contract only requires him to inform the board president if he interviews for another job.
During the spring, while Gandara recommended millions of dollars in budget cuts, his critics publicly questioned whether he was pursuing the then-open position of superintendent of schools in Austin, Texas. They based their speculation on a Web site report that his name had “surfaced” as a candidate.
Gandara acknowledged that a recruiter had contacted him but said he did not interview for the job.
Austin schools denied a San Diego Union-Tribune request for records relating to finalists for the position. –C.M.
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jul/25/lz1sz25short193612-short-takes-south-county-news-b/?southcounty&zIndex=137955
