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By Joshua Silla, Correspondent Wednesday, Nov. 19, marks a sobering anniversary in the Duarte Unified School District, where contract negotiations between teachers and the district have been ongoing for a year. Working under an expired contract since the beginning of this school year, the sides find themselves at an impasse, with another in a chain of mediation sessions coming up on Dec. 1. District officials say they value teachers, but must balance their demands with the financial stability of the district. Meanwhile, many teachers find themselves in a waiting game that has endured multiple mediation sessions yet to meet their demands. It’s taking a toll. Duarte Unified Education Association President Heather Messner said teachers are “burned out” and “tired of the district being disrespectful.” Teachers are taking on part-time and other full-time jobs, said Messner, who said side jobs are fairly common amongst Duarte’s educators; some work a second or third job as pet-sitters, bakers or tutors, with hours sometimes going past midnight. According to Messner, that creates problems with not just teachers’ livelihoods and performance, but students’ educational outcomes, too. “If you have a teacher who has to [.] work all weekend, you’re getting a teacher who’s stressed out,” Messner says. “Stress impacts your immune system, what you bring to the classroom, and the kids know it. They feel it. Families feel it.” According to the 2024-2025 Los Angeles County District Salary Survey by the Office of Education, DUSD has consistently ranked in the bottom quarter in multiple criteria out of 47 unified school districts in L. A. County. In health and welfare, which tracks the maximum annual contributions per teacher, DUSD ranked 45th, tied for second to last with El Segundo Unified School District and surpassing Temple City Unified School District by $250. The union’s initial bargaining demands were a 4. 5% increase to salary schedules, retroactive to July 1, 2024; an increase in annual district contributions to health and welfare from $10,000 to $12,500, which would rank them 39th in Los Angeles County’s 2024-2025 ranking; and 45 minutes of weekly preparation time for all TK-6 elementary school teachers. But as negotiations failed administrators offered the union a 1% increase and 30 minutes prep time every two weeks the union declared an impasse after Sept. 19, their ninth negotiation session. Messner also a middle school teacher at Royal Oaks STEAM Academy and Beardslee Dual Language Academy said the decision to move forward with impasse happened because the union, in effect, “would be bargaining against [them]selves.” Messner said “the district wasn’t showing a commitment to making progress on coming to the table with an acceptable offer, and we weren’t willing to make further concessions on our end.” According to a DUEA analysis of the district’s reserve budget, which they estimate at $13 million after a $7 million settlement, a 4. 5% wage increase would amount to $966,403. 665. Likewise, they estimate health benefits as anywhere between $320,000 and $462,000, depending on how many people will take the benefits. See also: Pasadena Unified stakeholders make last-ditch push to save programs, services from deep cuts In a joint statement from the district’s school board, President James Finlay said, “We value and appreciate our teachers. Their work, dedication, and care for students are central to everything we do. [.] Our responsibility is to support our employees, while also ensuring we protect the long-term financial stability of the district and the programs that serve our students and families.” Finlay has said his hope is that the two sides “continue the conversation, and work hard toward a resolution,” noting that he too has children in the district, taught by the very teachers who are demanding a deal with the district. Officials declined to comment on questions regarding the district’s past negotiation offers and district reserve budget. According to DUSD’s statement, because “mediation is confidential, we cannot discuss the details publicly, but we remain committed to reaching a fair, sustainable agreement that supports staff, students, and the long-term financial health of the district.” Teachers taking side gigs The decision for impasse leaves many teachers, like Beardslee Dual Language Academy middle school teacher Sheri Johnson, stuck. For the past four years, Johnson has travelled 30 miles every Monday through Friday to teach math and science to her eighth grade students. On her first three school days of the week, her workday isn’t over. As soon as the bell rings, Johnson rushes to her car, travelling 30 miles to Anaheim to clock in for a 6- to 8-hour shift as a Resort Transportation & Parking Team Member at Disneyland. She sometimes clocks out as late as 2 a. m. Including two additional weekend shifts to meet her full-time employee status, her work week amounts to around 80 hours. That doesn’t include unpayable time spent commuting, creating lesson plans, grading or other teaching-related activities. “Our responsibility is to support our employees, while also ensuring we protect the long-term financial stability of the district and the programs that serve our students and families.” James Finlay, president of the Duarte Unified School District Board of Education. Johnson’s schedule has been like this since she made the decision to be full-time at Disneyland four years ago, a few months after she transferred into DUSD- but according to her, she has no other choice. “I have to maintain my health insurance,” Johnson said. Johnson’s insurance plan is Kaiser Permanente, which is the same coverage she’d get from the district, but at a cheaper rate. Beyond her health benefits, Johnson also needs the extra income from Disney because she’s the sole provider for her 103-year-old great aunt, 81-year-old mother and 29-year-old special-needs nephew. Another Duarte teacher also works at Disney, albeit part-time. And while Johnson has a Bachelor of Arts in criminal justice, three master’s degrees and is expected to hit her 25th year of teaching soon all of which maxes out her pay scale she said her salary hasn’t increased to meet the cost of living. According to the 2024-2025 Los Angeles County District Salary Survey, Duarte ranks 45th out of 47 for the maximum salary with 25 years of experience at $113,642. “At 54, there’s been comments about, ‘She could move to another district!’” Johnson said. “If I moved districts, it’s not like I would make comparable pay, because they might only take 10 of the 20-something years. And then I’ll make less. [.] We’re in that catch-22.” Reaching a decision wouldn’t just mean a change in teachers’ healthcare options it would also greatly impact teachers’ schedules. According to Beardslee Dual Language Academy teacher Andrew Thill, elementary school teachers don’t have built-in preparation time compared to other teachers, and they also have more work to grade because they teach more subjects, like language arts, social studies, math and science. Elementary school teachers also need to prepare for conferences, which Thill said they now do before or after school. Thill is a fifth-grade teacher, as well as the DUEA negotiation team’s chair. For Thill, built-in, paid preparation time would dramatically change teachers’ lives. “Having taught middle school and elementary, in terms of that prep ability, it’s crazy,” Thill said. “45 [minutes], is it adequate to get everything done? No. But is it better than nothing? Yes.” Impact on students Beyond teachers, the impasse greatly affects students, too. Normally, students would enter their teachers’ classrooms to study, take proctored exams or exam-retakes, or even to hang out. But, as part of a grassroots campaign, high school teachers at Duarte High School (DHS) have “locked out” students from their classrooms during lunch periods. “Many of [my and department co-chair Stacy Nuñez’s] students are in special education, struggle with social skills,” Special education teacher and department co-chair Lisa Smith said. “They may not have many friends, so they were always in our room. Always.” In years prior, Smith would’ve gone above and beyond to make her kids feel special. She’s taken her students to prom in a limo she rented out-of-pocket, and has gone to multiple graduations over the years. She won DHS’s Teacher of the Year award in 2024 and 2010. “If you have a teacher who has to work all weekend, you’re getting a teacher who’s stressed out. Stress impacts your immune system, what you bring to the classroom, and the kids know it. They feel it. Families feel it.” Duarte Unified Education Association President Heather Messner But with DHS’s grassroots campaign, extending to advising after-school clubs like Smith’s Key Club, she’s put her foot down. While Smith has signed on as a club advisor, her clubs aren’t meeting. “For Key Club, we have a lot of events on [weekends] and the pay is $25 a month,” Smith said. “Some of them are overnight trips. I’m supposed to go with my kids to Six Flags for the Fall Rally, and it’s all day and you get $25 a month, if that.” Smith typically spends three hours at home every day, sometimes more on the weekends, grading assignments, writing lesson plans and letters of recommendation. She also spends time writing Individual Education Programs for her students. All of it is unpaid, expected work. As I’m interviewing her during lunch period, she’s grading her students’ classwork. “Let me put it into perspective: my partner works for a fast food company, and he makes better pay than me, has better benefits,” Smith said. “He does not have a college degree. I have three.” For culinary teacher and Regional Occupational Program Department Chairperson Jason Prince, the campaign has gotten into a difficult “gray area.” One of Prince’s students had recently asked him to write a letter of recommendation. “He said, ‘You’re my only one,’” Prince said. “I told him, ‘I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, I have to wait and see,’ like ‘What’s your deadline?’, because I don’t know if [writing a letter of recommendation is] where we’re drawing a line. We’re getting into a gray area where this kid’s future is based on this. When should I do it? Do I do it?” In his second year of teaching at DHS, Prince was offered a job at South Hills Unified School District, which would have started him with $17,000 more. Smith also received job offers, and so did Nuñez. All three turned them down; they didn’t feel leaving was right. Nuñez’s father was a former principal of DHS. Her two kids attended the school; one is a sophomore, while the other graduated last school year. She’s been teaching at the district since she was 22; she’s now 46. She feels that she carries a legacy. But to their dismay, the lockout has strained teachers’ abilities to build relationships with their students outside of class time. “Instead of fostering that relationship, where you could use [lunch time] to do that, it just it changes the dynamics of everything, big time,” Nuñez said. Prince said, “We’re all willing to take these horrible conditions the pay, the benefits we’re doing it because of the kids. It stinks that the kids are the ones that feel like they’re being abandoned right now.” Nuñez continued:, “The kids feel abandoned, which you can correlate to the fact that we feel abandoned, and we take care of the kids and we would like to also be respectfully taken care of. [.] Right now, it’s very difficult to feel that you’re being valued.” “You hear about ‘Teachers are underpaid,’” Prince said. “Well, try being the underpaid of the underpaid.” As negotiations continue, parents and community members have become privy to teachers’ demands. On Oct. 16th, teachers, parents and community members marched and rallied from Duarte High School to the Duarte Community Center to call for a fair contract before the district’s school board. According to Massney, 130 union members showed up and roughly 30 parents and labor leader supporters. Though she didn’t participate in the march, Alexa Barraza, a parent of a third-grade student at Beardslee Dual Language Academy, has passed out flyers to other parents encouraging them to wear red on Thursdays a sign of solidarity with DUEA teachers. “My son understands that on Thursdays, he wears red to show support for his teachers,” Barraza said. Barraza’s son transferred to Beardslee Dual Language Academy in first grade; she said he’s had nothing but positive experiences with educators who go above and beyond. She’s also a member of the Beardslee Parent Staff Association and frequently volunteers. According to Barraza, she’s noticed negative impacts on teacher morale: teacher participation in volunteer efforts has declined. Barraza continues, “By providing a reasonable raise and ensuring teachers feel respected, the district can rebuild trust, improve morale and ultimately create a healthier environment for both educators and students.” Prepared to strike If demands aren’t met, teachers are prepared to strike “an overwhelming supermajority [of members],” Messner said. “Strikes do create change, so, if we have to do it, we’re committed to do it,” Messner said. “We’re committed to going all the way.” Messner was part of DUSD’s hiring committee for their new superintendent, Jessica Medrano, who has 15 years of experience in site and district-level administration. Messner is hopeful Medrano will be committed to prioritizing educators and students in the budget. According to Medrano, her work has focused on “improving instructional systems, strengthening labor relations, and stabilizing school cultures during periods of transition [.] rebuilding trust, increasing transparency, and aligning systems so that decisions are predictable and fair.” Messner said she hopes Medrano will be a much-needed change especially as the district and the union approach their 10th negotiation on Dec. 1. Medrano’s first day was Nov. 17. “Duarte Unified is filled with dedicated staff who care deeply for students, and my role is to bring people together, clarify expectations, and guide the district forward with stability and purpose,” Dr. Medrano said. “I want the community to know that I come into this work with genuine respect for the voices of employees and families, and I intend to lead with both accountability and transparency.”.
https://www.sgvtribune.com/2025/11/18/as-duarte-unified-contract-impasse-drags-on-teachers-say-they-are-taking-on-multiple-jobs/