On Thursday, Jan. 16, the Glendale Unified School District and California School Employees Association (CSEA) bargaining unit reached a tentative agreement on wages for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years. The tentative agreement would provide $1.4 million to the bargaining unit, which would be allocated in the following ways:

• One-time payment of $460 to bargaining unit members employed as of Jan. 16, 2020 who are on steps one through eight of the current salary schedule;

• Full funding of step nine of the current salary schedule, which equates to an increase from 3% to 5% above step eight, effective Jan. 1, 2020;

• An ongoing 1.54% increase to the full salary schedule for all CSEA bargaining unit members, effective July 1, 2019.

“I want to thank everyone whose hard work led to this tentative agreement, which balances our desire to fairly compensate our highly valued employees and make responsible financial decisions,” said Glendale Unified Board President Jennifer Freemon.

“Our classified employees play a vital role in creating a culture and climate that promotes academic success and gives students a sense of belonging on our campuses,” said Glendale Unified Superintendent Dr. Vivian Ekchian. “I am pleased that we have come to a tentative agreement that fairly compensates our CSEA employees for the hard work they do every day.”

“Our bargaining team worked hard to secure a tentative agreement that benefits every one of our members who serve in a wide range of roles to support students, staff, and the community,” said CSEA President Stacy Toy.

CSEA membership is expected to vote whether or not to ratify the tentative agreement on wages at their next meeting on Feb. 7, after which the Glendale Unified board of education will vote whether or not to approve the agreement.

The bargaining team will reconvene on Feb. 13 to discuss successor negotiations for the CSEA 2019-22 contract, which include staffing ratios, workload, contracting out protections, and items relating to working conditions.