San Rafael district approves contract with high school teachers

After 16 months of talks, San Rafael City Schools and its high school teachers union have a deal.

The agreement closes out a previous three-year contract and resolves compensation issues for the 2025-26 school year.

The San Rafael Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of the pact, which ends in June. The two bargaining teams are expected to restart talks on Feb. 11 for a new three-year contract.

Superintendent Carmen Diaz Ghysels said the tentative agreement was ratified by union members prior to the board meeting. The San Rafael Federation of Teachers represents 147 teachers counselors and other certificated employees at the high schools.

“The board and district administration deeply value all our teachers and their essential and invaluable work,” Diaz Ghysels said. “We are thrilled we reached a fair and fiscally responsible agreement with SRFT. We are proud that the agreement maintains our competitive compensation and is in the best interests of our students, teachers and the district.”

Union representatives said they were pleased the two sides were able to agree on pay increases based on the “fair share agreement.” Under that arrangement, the union members receive a compensation increase based on a percentage of the revenues received by the district.

For 2025-26, the union and the district agreed to a 0.7% increase retroactive to July 1 and a one-time bonus of 0.95%, said Morgan Agnew, the union president.

“These amounts were determined by the fair share formula that we have been using for the past five years, under which our bargaining unit is allotted a fixed share of district revenue,” Agnew said.

Union negotiator Lee Chretien said the fair share process formula was a sticking point over the past 16 months.

The union negotiates each contract on a year-by-year basis, except for compensation, which is negotiated a year in advance, Agnew said.

After the vote, trustee Jason Lau thanked both negotiating teams for their patience and persistence amid “budget challenges and the fair share agreement” that made the process “very long and difficult.”

The fair share process was at issue because San Rafael school district finances, and those of other school districts throughout Marin, have been shifting rapidly because of declining enrollment, the loss of one-time pandemic relief funds and rising costs for supplies, equipment and other goods.

As a result, the actual amount of the “fair share” increase was under debate.

District officials have said they will need to make $5.5 million in cuts over the next three years, including layoffs, to maintain solvency in its $68 million elementary district budget and its $42 million high school budget.

Union representatives said they were glad to come to a compromise in the middle of district budget issues.

“SRFT thanks the district for approving the tentative agreement for the 2024-25 school year and for making a compensation offer in line with our fair share bargaining framework,” Chretien said. “We look forward to continuing this collaborative approach when we begin negotiating again in February.”