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Contract Agreements Met Between District, Parties
school

Contracts have once again been ratified and negotiators may now rest.

That was perhaps the highlight of the Monday night, Jan. 13 Oakdale Joint Unified School District board meeting and Assistant Superintendent Dave Kline presented tentative agreements for ratification for both the Oakdale Teachers Association, as well as CSEA Chapter #830.

Prior to Kline’s presentation, OTA President Keith Burns addressed the board noting the time he had taken in the previous month’s meeting.

Vowing to keep it short, Burns noted, “The vote was not where we’d really like it. We had 63 people who voted against it. I think in the future we really need to look at some of those issues there were concerns for.”

The main issue, he shared, which stands out the most was the concern for class size. Overall, however, Burns indicated pleasure with the outcome of the negotiations.

CSEA President Adam Uplinger followed Burns, noting supreme pleasure with the overall contract negotiations for the classified staff which he represents.

“This contract is one I’m still really proud of and I want to thank the district for their help with it,” Uplinger stated. “Especially our most senior members of classified staff, got a really good deal this time.

“There were a lot of happy people last week,” he continued. “I just wanted to thank the district for their willingness to work with us.”

Kline noted to the board of the many things which were modified or added to the OTA Contract a 3 percent increase “to all cells on the certificated salary schedule” was recommended for ratification. In addition to his recommendation he publicly thanked his team for their diligence and hard work on both contracts.

Prior to Kline’s presentation, Assistant Superintendent Kristi Rapinchuk presented the Annual Dashboard Accountability Update to the board.

Just as with curriculum changes, the report now appears in a different format than that to which the board has become accustomed. Rapinchuk reviewed the “dials” indicating areas from low to high performance.

As Rapinchuk reviewed the varying categories and district scores, she was diligent about pointing out the OJUSD standings versus other K through 12 Unified Districts in the county.

An example of this was evident with mathematics; OJUSD mathematics was reported at 30.7 points below standard but a 6.9 increase since 2018.

“Although we see that 30.7 below and we want it to be higher than that,” she said, “this is the other K through 12 Unified Districts in our county.”

Comparatively OJUSD rated significantly higher (better) than the others. The closest in the mathematics category being 48.5 below standard (Hughson).

Additionally the Assistant Superintendent noted, “If you were to compare the math questions that a third grade student used to have to answer on the STAR test, compared to what a third grade student has to answer now on the SBAC test, it’s a world of difference.”

As is customary, the meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance, this time being led by Fair Oaks elementary students, Hayden Lutz, Camille Garavaglia, Benjamin Fisher and Rylee Gail.

The next meeting is scheduled at the OJUSD Tech Center on Monday, Feb. 3 beginning at 6:30 p.m.