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SALT LAKE COUNTY -- Nearly 200 teachers in the Canyons School District showed up at a board of education meeting Tuesday night to voice concern over losing negotiating rights on some contract issues.
The Canyons Education Association and Canyons School Board are currently conducting contract negotiations, and these teachers are concerned that the district is keeping them from weighing in on certain policies.
Superintendent David Doty wrote a letter to Canyons School District employees stating that three out of 25 policies related to teacher contracts will no longer be negotiable. District spokeswoman Jennifer Toomer-Cook says those policies include:
- Student discipline
- A district advisory council
- A school advisory council
Toomer-Cook says the board of education wants to limit negotiations to terms of employment and those three non-negotiable points are not connected with that. She said they have been identified as board responsibilities.
But teachers feel that if the board takes away their opportunity to voice concern on these three policies, it may lead to further loss.
Pam Bunderson, a teacher at Ridgecrest Elementary School, said, "We don't want to set a precedent that other negotiable items that have to do with teaching and benefits -- we don't want those to be cut over years so we have no voice to negotiating our working standards, and so forth."
The teachers who showed up at the meeting also expressed concern over the district's budget for next year.
The school board gave a budget presentation which outlined a worst-case $11-million budget shortfall. Teachers pleaded with administrators to take cuts from all programs, not just teacher salaries and work days. They also voiced concern about laying off higher-paid, more experienced teachers.
Shaun Evenson of Indian Hills Middle School said, "It looks like to me that the Canyons District is leaning toward laying off teachers in the future instead of slightly raising property taxes."
Several teachers said they understand cuts and changes are inevitable but asked that the cuts be shared among all employees.
The district also announced Tuesday that Fidel Montero is the new principal at Alta High Schoo (Click here to read the news release). Former principal Mont Widerberg retired in March following a district-led racism probe at the school.
Written with contributions from Shara Park , Andrew Adams and Molly Farmer.
