Photo © Mark Mitchell, Used with permission.

On September 13th it was standing room only as SRTA members spoke to the board about teaching conditions in SRCS. Topics included missing instructional materials, Illuminate Ed rollout problems, a lack of AC impacting teaching, low morale, plans to seek employment elsewhere, a lack of a living wage, and a lack of transcripts in Illuminate Ed which will have a huge negative impact on seniors applying for college (which opens October 1st).

On Tuesday and Wednesday September 5th and 6th SRTA and SRCS made their presentations to the three person Fact Finding panel. One of the three panel members was appointed by SRTA, one by SRCS, and the third was mutually agreed upon. If SRTA and SRCS are not able to come to an agreement that can be presented to SRTA membership then the Fact Finding panel will write a non-binding report that can be expected in approximately six weeks.

SRTA's presentation was made by the SRTA Negotiating Team led by SRTA Chief Negotiator Kathryn Howell and supported by SRTA President Will Lyon, SRTA Vice-president Tawni Johnson, and Mark Mitchell from the California Teachers Association (CTA), as well as the Negotiation Team: Dan Swedenborg, Danita Haynes, Ginger Matich, Maddie Doyle, and George Peterson.

SRTA began its presentation with an opening statement by our Chief Negotiator Kathryn Howell (see below).

SRCS's presentation was made by a lawyer representing the district office. At least one other lawyer represented the district along with District staff. One legal firm was hired at a rate of $230/hr. (source, Board Agenda 6/28/17, item E-5, in the attached contracts list item 3,4 business services.) This has cost the school district an undisclosed amount over the course of negotiations. Tuesday alone this cost the district $3,910 for ONE of their attorneys ($230/hr for 17 hours of negotiations).

On Tuesday, in support our negotiating team more than 70 SRTA teachers and community members picketed in front of Santa Rosa High School to raise awareness in the community. At approximately 4pm the demonstrators marched to the District Office to make our voices heard and to support our negotiating team.

See photos and videos below the statement.

On Wednesday, August 30th the Santa Rosa City Schools School Board held a closed session board meeting at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country. Only two items were on the agenda, the performance evaluation of SRCS Superintendent Diann Kitamura and a conference with SRCS's Labor Negotiator. 

Thirty-eight SRTA members welcomed the board members to their meeting with signs and flyers to bring awareness of the current labor difficulties between SRTA and SRCS to the local community. 

During the public comments preceding the closed session twelve SRTA members shared stories of the hardships they and their colleagues face due to the woefully insufficient health care coverage currently offered by SRCS.

Please listen to their stories and share them with your friends, families, and colleagues.

On August 23rd, 2017, SRTA members and concerned community members packed the School Board meeting for Santa Rosa City Schools.

Heaps of praise on our ten SRCS teachers (named below) who addressed the board during open comments on the topic of our attract and retain crisis. They shared personal stories of colleagues who departed SRCS for other districts because of the untenable health care situation currently impacting our district.

Then President Will Lyon delivered SRTA's presentation to the board urging them to shift the District's priorities to address the attract and retain crisis that is hurting our students. He shared the facts of the impossible choice facing young educators in our district: stay or depart for other districts in Sonoma County that provide larger medical contributions. Every other district in our county provides at least three times as much medical benefits as SRCS, and in one case more than eight times as much health care benefits as SRCS. Over the span of a career, this can be the difference of nearly half a million dollars. This is a serious contributor to our attract and retain problem.

​Please take the time to watch and listen to our members' stories. 

1. ​Jill Jackson - Hidden Valley Elementary - 6:33
2. Brigette Mansell - Maria Carillo HS - 10:10
3. John Cortopossi - Santa Rosa HS - 13:24
4. Barbara Lawson - Elsie Allen HS - 16:08
5. Maddie Doyle - Maria Carillo HS - 19:15
6. Lisa Moore - Lawrence Cook MS - 22:33
7. Kristin Reed - Montgomery HS - 24:50
8. Rob Chandler - Maria Carillo HS - 28:56
9. Genevieve Lilligren - Santa Rosa MS - 33:00
10. Kathy Shanklin - Comstock MS - 35:10
11. SRTA President Will Lyon - Santa Rosa HS- 39:00

Photos © SRTA Member Genevieve Lilligren - Used with permission.

There was a math error on slide 11 as presented to the board. It has been corrected in this version of the presentation and is noted on the slide.

 We need your email address to:

• Send you weekly emails keeping you updated with what is going on with SRTA.
• Send you your ballot for all SRTA votes. ALL ballots will be sent to personal email addresses this year.

If you did not get the email titled "SRTA Welcome Back Update" which was sent on the morning of August 14th please email membership at srtamembers@gmail.com right away!