P.V. School District Agrees on 3% Pay Hike for Teachers

After seven months of negotiations, Palos Verdes school board members and teachers have reached agreement on a one-year contract that gives teachers a slight pay increase and retirees more money for health insurance.

School board members Monday night unanimously approved a pact calling for teachers to receive a 3% salary increase retroactive to Dec. 16. Since the teachers’ contract expired last June, the increase translates into a 1.9% annualized increase.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District’s 420 teachers approved the contract by a 3-2 ratio in mid-March.

The contract, which expires June 30, also calls for retired faculty members between the ages of 55 and 65 who taught in the district for at least 15 years to receive $2,000 a year for group medical insurance.

The district had been paying $1,000 toward the insurance.

Lauren Sanders, executive director of South Bay United Teachers, bargaining unit for the Palos Verdes Faculty Assn., said in an interview that teachers were not pleased with the contract. Faculty members had sought a 10% pay increase.

“They are not happy with it, even those who voted for it,” Sanders said, adding that teachers have recently had to pay more for health benefits. “I think they feel this is the best we can do at this time.”

Supt. Michael Caston conceded that the pay increase did not even match the inflation rate. In Los Angeles County, last year’s rate was 6.6%, according to state figures.

“Everyone who gets a 3% increase is, of course, losing ground,” Caston said.

“Right now, the overall financial condition of the district is just so devastating there wasn’t much more that could be done,” he added.

Caston said the district, which faces a $1.5-million deficit this year, hopes to improve teacher salaries in coming years. If the district overcomes a legal challenge and consolidates its three high schools into one by next fall, more money could become available for teachers in future years, he said.

“With our consolidation plan, we are going to spend less money on overhead and more on the classroom,” he said.

According to Caston, faculty members who have taught in the district at least 20 years and have a master’s degree will now earn $48,530 a year. Beginning teachers will earn $22,425.

Sanders said the faculty association has already begun negotiations with the district on a contract for the 1991-92 school year. The association is again seeking a 10% salary increase, he said.