Students, faculty and parents took to the lectern during the public comment portion of Thursday’s school board meeting to stress the importance of equitable pay for teachers.

On Jan. 24, Benicia Unified School District and the Benicia Teachers Association (BTA) held a negotiations meeting following a budget workshop. BUSD proposed a one-time bonus of 1 percent off the salary schedule for both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years, citing a desire to remain competitive with surrounding school districts. BTA countered with a 5 percent salary increase for the current school year and a 4.25 percent increase for the following school year. BUSD did not accept this offer and teachers were not satisfied with receiving 1 percent off the salary schedule, so a rally was held ahead of the Feb. 1 meeting. At a Feb. 6 negotiations meeting, BUSD made a counter-proposal of 1.5 percent off the salary schedule. After being unable to reach an agreement, BTA requested to file for impasse.

LaPaula Parker, a junior at Benicia High School, addressed the school board to talk about how great her education has been at Benicia High and stressed the need for teachers to receive appropriate compensation for the work they do.

“The teachers continue to stay until dark to help students succeed and many spend weekend time grading essays from three to five AP classes,” she said. “To put that in perspective, that is about 100 or more essays during their weekend time.”

“The Benicia High teachers have good hearts, and we have constantly seen them put the care and well-being of students above their own,” she added.

Parker noted that the wage issue was serious and affected students as well. She emphasized that BUSD should pay teachers “what they are worth.”

Liam Madigan, another BHS junior, said he came to the board as a “product of a good school system” and noted that in the wake of teachers’ strikes across the country over low pay for educators, he felt discouraged to see that BUSD was in the same boat.

“We should be far ahead of the curve,” he said. “Benicia’s houses aren’t expensive because of our beautiful view of the refinery. People pay to live here because of the schools, but how long until they begin to think they made the wrong decision?”

Madigan made a plea for the board to give teachers reasonable pay.

“Ultimately, you can’t put students first if you put teachers last,” he said.

Olivia Contreras, a Benicia High sophomore, noted that many teachers have stopped providing vital services to students to stress to the board how hard they work outside of what is required by their contracts.

“They do this because this is what students require of them to be successful,” she said. “As students, we can not do this on our own. We need teachers. They are our most valuable resource. They are the backbone of our society.”

Carolyn Fields, a Benicia Middle School English teacher and BTA president, read a memorandum that was signed by 204 BUSD union teachers. The letter noted that teachers while teachers feel proud to work at BUSD, they feel disappointed over the battles over raises and contract issues.

“BUSD has always been a district where decisions have been made on a collaborative basis with the best interest of our students in mind,” Fields said. “Even in the worst financial times, Benicia Teachers Association and BUSD have worked together to maintain the high caliber of teaching and learning our students deserve. We however no longer feel we’re given the respect and support to achieve our goals.”

Fields noted that BUSD has not negotiated a single employee-employer agreement without a mediator in the last three years and that district leadership has not been transparent on financial matters.

“Requests for information needed to accurately negotiate have been met with resistance and stalling,” she said.

Among other things, Fields noted that the proposed changes to Benicia High’s graduation requirements and special education program were done without union input.

“We the undersigned BTA members want to express our extreme dissatisfaction with current district leadership,” she said. “We respectfully request that the board take action, prioritize your teachers, direct your negotiating team to settle a fair contract immediately.”

Benicia High English teacher Michele Gaines said she signed the memorandum somewhat reluctantly since she has felt positive about Superintendent Dr. Charles Young’s leadership. However, she felt the method of “business as usual” regarding budget numbers was not working. She stressed a need for all parties to come together to make sure that wages and benefits are competitive.

“I hate to see the wedge between leadership and teachers, administration and staff, District Office and teachers when we’re all in this for these young people,” she said. “Our relationship can be harmonious or acrimonious, and if it’s not harmonious we just don’t have what we need to go forward and do the job that needs to be done.”

Lisa Honeycutt, another BHS English teacher, read a list of extra services educators would no longer be providing due to the lack of negotiations. These included Advanced Placement review sessions, afternoon tutoring outside of math or English labs, grading outside of contractual hours, open classrooms during lunch for academic assistance and faculty attendance at sporting events and other afterschool student activities. Honeycutt said the services would be restored if a fair contract was reached.

School board President Diane Ferrucci acknowledged the participation of speakers and said she would take their thoughts into consideration in the next phase of the negotiation process. She noted that the district has three values related to the negotiation process: “the quality of our overall instructional program, the short and long-term fiscal solvency of the district along with the ability to offer a competitive compensation package to all of our employees.”

“The board wants to emphasize our confidence in Dr. Young’s leadership and the strong management team which has been assembled over the past three years,” she said.

Ferrucci said the district would try to find a suitable agreement between the two parties given the circumstances.

“We will continue our commitment to work in close partnership with both employee bargaining units and our management team, understanding that we are in the midst of challenging negotiations due to the events around the country and the court cases coming up,” she said. “I am hoping that everyone will stay focused with us on taking care of our work at hand and doing what’s best for our students and staff.”

A fact-finding hearing will be held May 17 for both the district and union to present their case to a three-person panel, which will make a recommendation that the district can accept or reject.

(A full report on Thursday’s school board meeting will be published in Sunday’s print edition and online.)