School Board to Vote On Shortened School Year, Class Sizes, Teachers' Union Contract Tonight

The school board tonight is expected to make a decision whether or not to ratify an agreement with the Rohnert Park-Cotat Educator's Association on a set of contract concessions that the .

Faculty have settled on a two percent salary reduction until 2014 and a 15 percent contribution towards their medical benefits — a deal that amounts to about $1.5 million a year, according to Stacie McGwier, a president of the Rohnert Park Cotati Teacher’s Association.

The concessions that the board is scheduled to vote on tonight, and that still must be certified by the Sonoma County Office of Education, cut the school year from 182 to 175 days and teachers would be paid for one teacher workday instead of two currently, according to the proposed contract. The contract also details that class sizes from kindergarten through 6th grade should not exceed 30 students, and grades seven through 12 should not exceed 35 students.

Also tonight, the board will consider employees eligible for golden handshakes, and Chief Financial Officer Wade Roach will present the fiscal year 2011-2012 preliminary school district budget — which he estimated to have a $3 million deficit before teachers' labor contract concessions.

The board tonight will also hear a report on interdistrict transfers and other enrollment trends. 

Editor's note: Stay tuned to Rohnert Park Patch for a roundup of what happened at the board meeting Wednesday. Click on the PDFs to the right to view the proposed teachers' union contract and the full school board agenda.