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On the third day of their strike, Las Lomitas Elementary School District educators and supporters gathered in front of the district office in Menlo Park to hold an afternoon rally.
More than 70 educators, students, parents attended the rally on Friday, Oct. 25, and marched the picket line. Members of the California Teachers Association, California School Employees Association and the United Teachers of Richmond joined the rally in support of the Las Lomitas Education Association.
The district’s current offer stands at a 7% raise for 2023-24, a 3% raise for 2024-25 and increased health benefits and stipends.
A day earlier, the LLEA provided the district with two counter offers: 8% raise just for 2023-24 or a two-year deal with an 8% raise for 2023-24 and a 7% raise for 2024-25, which would not be paid until Jan. 25, 2025, to give the district more time to reprioritize the budget and make cuts.
“The board and district bargaining team have been working around the clock to discuss options, ideas and pathways forward,” the district stated in an announcement on Oct. 25. “We have been in communication with LLEA, and these lines of communication will remain open.”
LLEA representatives said on Friday they had been waiting all day to be called to the bargaining table.
“It’s their obligation and duty to call us to the bargaining table and their refusal to do this day in and day out is despicable,” said Jennifer Montalvo, LLEA co-president.
California Teachers Association’s District B Director Maripaz Berlin came from San Jose to support teachers and to boost morale. Despite not being in the classrooms, she reminds teachers that they are still teaching their students by participating in the strike — a lesson on civil rights.
Students supporting the strike learned the call and response while shouting alongside their teachers and parents as they marched the picket line with handmade signs.
“Today’s lesson is standing up against bullying. Today’s lesson is solidarity. Today’s lesson is standing up for justice,” said Francisco Ortiz, president of the United Teachers of Richmond.
A GoFundMe page has also been started to collect donations in support of LLEA staff during the strike. The fundraising page has raised over $9,000 as of Oct. 25.
There has been a GoFundMe also created for classified staff who are taking part in a sympathy strike for the LLEA. Almost $3,000 has been raised as of Oct. 25.
Teachers and supporters also wore pink ribbons in solidarity of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Montalvo said that the LLEA fundraiser is financially supporting a colleague who is currently battling breast cancer without full health insurance coverage.
“No one’s getting paid right now and this is a huge financial issue. Paying rent is going to be a problem. Feeding our families is going to be a problem. This is unthinkable that in a ZIP code this high (wealthy), this is where we are,” said Montalvo.
She added that she has given grace to three teachers who have had to return to work in “fear of retaliation from district leadership.”
The LLEA co-presidents are hopeful that they will reach an agreement with the district as more parents and community members put pressure on the school board. “[The community] elected the board to do their job and that board right now has let them down in a lot of different ways,” said Daniella Lefer, LLEA co-president.
As of Oct. 25, 955 people have signed a Change.org petition expressing that they have no confidence in Superintendent Beth Polito’s leadership. Polito recently announced she would retire at the end of the school year.
The LLEA is made up of 93 members and the district is spending about $40,000 each day to pay for substitute teachers.
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