Teachers Beginning Contract Negotiations With Walnut Creek School District

A low-key series of negotiations will begin soon between the Walnut Creek School District and its teachers.

The Walnut Creek Teachers Association presented its annual list of "sunshine" contract re-openers to the board of education on Monday night.

The items are topics the district and teachers discuss every winter as alterations to the three-year contract that is in effect.

This year's negotiations will cover items for this school year as well as the two years. The new contract will be in effect from September 2013 to September 2016.

WCTA President Rod Moore said he expects the talks to last until late February or early March.

Moore said the negotiations are usually discussions between the union and the district that result in an amicable agreement.

"It's a collaborative process. It's worked well for the past 10 to 15 years," said Moore.

He said most of the discussion centers on language changes in the contract to meet new state guidelines or requirements.

This year, salary and benefits will be part of the conversation. Any agreement reached on pay and benefits would be retroactive to this school year.

Moore said the teachers have received raises of about 2 percent for the past several years.

The 185 teachers in the district earn between $45,000 and $87,000 a year, depending on their experience and education.

They pay anywhere from zero for the most basic medical plan to $1,000 a month. Kaiser and Blue Cross are the two medical options.

Moore said the length of the school day has increased in recent years from 10 minutes to 30 minutes extra, depending on the grade.

That topic and class size will also probably be part of the discussions.