Letters pushed board member to resign

A teachers’ union letter-writing campaign to lobby Las Lomitas Elementary School District board members over stalled contract negotiations appears to have backfired.

Board member David Bailard resigned his post on Monday, Oct. 5, as a result of letters he received from the teachers. In the letters sent to Mr. Bailard and other board members, the teachers referred to members’ children who are current and former students in the district, apparently hoping that personal relationships would help win support for a sticking point in the negotiations — raises.

“Unfortunately, because of recent tactics by the teachers’ bargaining unit, aimed at influencing contract negotiations, it’s become impossible to separate the relationship between my board service and my children’s education,” Mr. Bailard told The Almanac. “I have immense respect for the teaching staff, but I felt I needed to return to my role as a parent.”

He had more than a year left on his second four-year term.

The district’s contract with the teachers’ union expired in June 2008, and no agreement has yet been reached between district management and union representatives. Teachers sent dozens of letters, dated Sept. 30, to the homes of board members, urging them to intervene in contract negotiations on the teachers’ behalf.

The letters warned of low morale, bigger class sizes and more difficult teaching conditions. Some of the letters, according to Superintendent Eric Hartwig, revealed confidential information about the ongoing contract negotiations.

Brenda Nixon, president of the teachers’ union, said in a prepared statement that the teachers “respectfully acknowledge” the enormous contributions Mr. Bailard has made to the district.

“He has been a tireless advocate for children and we wish him the very best,” she said.

But while Mr. Bailard declined to tell The Almanac what, specifically, prompted him to resign, it’s clear from an e-mail he sent to Mr. Hartwig on Oct. 2 that he was troubled by letters that referred to his children.

In the e-mail, he outlined the main points of the letters he received. Mr. Bailard wrote: “Some of our favorite teachers, who we have supported so much. All ones we have had or have now. Most with personal notes and specifics about our children.”

He closed by saying, “Very disappointing. My wife is sick (about it).”

“I think it was a question of him wanting to finish out his child’s school year without being under any kind of a watch from some of the teachers,” said Mr. Hartwig.

Mr. Bailard threw out the letters he received, not realizing they were public documents, Mr. Hartwig said. However, The Almanac reviewed letters that were sent to the other board members, and several made specific mention of personal relationships with board members and their children.

“Why am I working without a contract after 14 years of dedicated, effective service to your children and the Las Lomitas School District?” wrote La Entrada teacher Patrick Kelly to a board member.

In speaking with The Almanac, Mr. Bailard downplayed the incident.

“There’s no huge scandal. I don’t want to get into details, but a mistake was made,” he said. “It’s important to keep the supportive relationship my family has built with the teaching staff over the years. I have one child in the district and another who’s a graduate, and they’ve had wonderful educations.”

Contract talks stalled

Las Lomitas recently celebrated the release of the latest Academic Performance Index (API) results, with a score that put the district at No. 1 in the state for the second year in a row. The high achievement is in stark contrast to the low morale teachers said they were feeling.

“Instead of celebrating our API ranking, our teachers have been frankly quite depressed about starting another school year without a contract,” Las Lomitas teacher Noreen Chin wrote to board member Leslie Airola-Murveit.

A recurrent theme in the letters was the district’s large reserves of $4.4 million, or 26 percent. Despite what Mr. Hartwig says is a difficult budget year for the district, teachers said in their letters that there is enough money to give them a cost-of-living raise.

“With only $118,000 between each side’s offer, I encourage you to authorize Eric (Hartwig) to acknowledge the dedication and success of our teachers,” wrote Claire Abrams, a district curriculum adviser, to Ms. Airola-Murveit.

Mr. Hartwig said that while the district’s reserves are unusually high at the moment, five-year projections show it dwindling to less than 10 percent by the 2013-14 school year — and that’s without including salary adjustments for teachers.

With the state budget cuts, flat property tax revenues, growing student enrollment and investment losses from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Mr. Hartwig said, the district is already facing the specter of deficit spending, even without salary increases for teachers.

Confidentiality requirements prevented him from discussing the amount of money separating the two sides in the contract negotiations, he said. “Were not that far apart, but it’s not a trivial amount,” Mr. Hartwig said.

Contract negotiations have been going on for a year, he said.

“We absolutely want to do right by our teachers and help them as much as we can every year — this is just a tougher year,” he said. “It’s probably the toughest challenge we faced in many years.”

He pointed out that the district has avoided program cuts and layoffs, despite budget cuts.

“Conservative and diligent planning allowed us to do that, and that is the best way to respect our staff,” Mr. Hartwig said. “Our salaries are at the very, very top of the county and state.”