Santa Barbara Unified School District and California School Employee Association provide negotiation update

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) provided an update on its negotiations with the California School Employee Association (CSEA) Friday.

Both organizations discussed mediation toward progress and both agreed that such an option could help speed up the process without arbitration.

The SBUSD asked that if no resolution arrived, the mediator would then become the arbitrator to make a final decision.

The CSEA said that they would review this counter-proposal which would save both time and money in the process.

The CSEA also make a proposal to shift premium pay to a 5% premium rather than the current amount, which the district countered to include any employee whose shift ended after 7 p.m.

The SBUSD declined this initial proposal of 5% but is willing to negotiate the stipend set amount.

The CSEA also proposed a new article for work out of class and reclassification process, both part of the initial contract but in different places within it.

The current contract says that work-out-of-class pay is only given to employees who have worked out of classification for at least five days.

The CSEA proposed no five-day criteria in order for an employee to be paid for these classifications as well as a new process for reclassification that the SBUSD still needs to review.

The next negotiation sessions between the two organizations will be on April 26, May 9 and May 15.