No deal reached in Cotati-Rohnert Park teacher negotiations

Hours of negotiations in the fourth day of a teacher strike in the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District yielded no deal, union officials announced Tuesday.

Superintendent Mayra Perez struck a hopeful tone at the end of the day, calling the negotiations “productive” despite the lack of a tentative agreement.

“We are closer than we have been,” she said.

The union bargaining team, though, expressed frustration in communication to their 320 members, which was also posted to the Rohnert Park Cotati Educators Association Facebook page.

“Unfortunately, we got nickeled and pennied today,” the union bargaining team said. “The District continues to be unreasonable.”

The bargaining session ended hours before a meeting of the Cotati-Rohnert Park school board, where teachers and their allies were again set to turn out in a public show of support for their cause.

The district and union communicated with the assistance of a state mediator throughout Tuesday. He spent time with both the union negotiators and the district team, going back and forth between the two.

Perez, though she is prohibited from discussing the details of mediation, said there was movement from both parties.

“I’’m always going to be hopeful we can continue the conversation,” she said.

With no tentative deal reached, the walkout, which continued Tuesday, is set to stretch into a fifth day Wednesday.

Teachers have been pressing for ongoing wage increases equal to those recommended by a state-appointed neutral fact-finder in a report published March 6. That would include a 6% increase for this year, 5% next year and 3.6% in 2023-2024, equating to 14.6% over three years.

The district has balked at the first-year figure and offered instead a 3% increase and 3% one-time bonus. District officials have cited budget projections showing that a 6% hike in payroll costs for not just teachers, but all other employees, too, would drain reserves and lead to a deficit by the end of the next school year.

The school board discussed the impact of its raise offer in the second interim budget report at its meeting Tuesday night. The board ultimately voted to approve the interim report in “qualified” status.

That means the district may not meet its financial obligations in one of the next three years. The projection is based on the scenario of the district providing raises at the level it has already offered in negotiations: of 3% ongoing and a 3% bonus this year, 5% next year and 3.69% the following year.

“I honestly feel like no matter what we do, we’re going to have a qualified budget in one of the years,” said Board President Joe Cimino. “My feeling is, there’s a lot of hard work to do and there’s a lot of things that we’re going to have to figure out, no matter what we do.”

District officials will likely spend the next months before the final budget is presented identifying ways to rebalance the future years’ budgets to avoid intervention by the county office of education.

The union, meanwhile, stood in a solemn vigil beforehand. Rather than their usual red clothing, members asked the community to wear black.

“It is a dark time in CRPUSD,” the union communication said. “Our Unit members will be wearing black tonight to show how solemn and serious this crisis has become.”

During the meeting, community members held electric flameless candles in keeping with the theme of vigil. Several parents and students spoke out, urging the school board to push harder for a deal.

“Our children have already lost so much over the past five years,“ said Barbara Ruch, mother of a Rancho Cotate sophomore. ”This strike could end today if you just come to the table and give the teachers what they’re asking for ... Stop the madness.“

“I believe you and I share the same goal. I don’t think we are enemies,” said Sierra McCreary, a junior at Tech High School. “I want to go back to class, but I’m not going back without my teachers.”

Attendance at the district’s 13 campuses dropped slightly Tuesday, back to the levels of last week. According to Perez, about 750 ― or 12.5% ― of the 6,000 students enrolled in the district were present.

You can reach Staff Writer Kaylee Tornay at 707-521-5250 or kaylee.tornay@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ka_tornay.