Pleasanton Teachers, PUSD Reach Tentative Deal

PLEASANTON, CA — After months of negotiations, the Pleasanton Unified School District reached a tentative deal with the Association of Pleasanton Teachers, the district announced on its negotiations page and in an email sent to families.

After a 14-hour negotiation session Monday, the agreement includes the following provisions:

• A 10% ongoing salary increase
• Full Kaiser single health coverage
• Increases to teacher stipends
• Credit for years of service
• Reduction in high school class sizes

With the added benefits, the deal represents a total compensation increase of 13.22 percent.

“This is an increase to the District’s prior offer and exceeds the recommendation brought forward by the Factfinding Panel,” the district wrote in the email. “We are pleased to have reached a resolution that represents how we value our certificated team members and the work that they do with students. Thank you to the members of both negotiating teams who dedicated so much time and effort to making this happen.”

"While we didn't get everything we wanted, we were able to get an agreement that supports our guiding principles of APT- best class sizes and caseloads, best resources and supports and best educators which will help to give our Pleasanton students the best," APT President Cheryl Atkins told Patch in a comment confirming that the agreement was reached, and that it will go to the union for a ratification vote. "We thank our community, parents and students that reached out to the schools board and district management to support our efforts."

The two sides had been at odds for several months, namely over teacher compensation. In December, 98.5% of union members voted to authorize a strike if all negotiation methods were exhausted, Atkins told Patch in an earlier email. That nearly occurred just a few days ago, when the two sides failed to come to an agreement after fact-finding led by a neutral arbitrator. For several months, the union has held several rallies in Pleasanton to garner support.

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