MBUSD board members sunshined the initial contract proposal between the Manhattan Beach Unified Teachers Association and the Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees on Sept. 2, prompting 2015-2016 negotiations.
Sunshining allows the public to view topics from both sides of an issue. It is a procedural that governing boards and employee groups preview contracts before they undergo negotiations.
“Sunshining the contract is the first step in the process of revising the contract,” MBUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews said. “Because of it, nothing is held in secret to the public.”
There will be a public hearing at the Sept. 16 MBUSD Board of Trustees meeting where the public will be able to speak to the board members and address any concerns that they may have about the contract.
“On September 16, the public will have a chance to come in a speak their opinions about the topic at the open hearing,” Matthews said. “It is very rare that people do come in and state their opinions, but we look forward to any input.”
On July 15, MBUTA unveiled that they mainly wanted to change the complaints article in the contract, which deals with how the district deals with complaints. The article explains the requirements of the district when complaints are made and the way in which they are resolved.
“We picked the complaints article because as we are going through the contract we feel there are places we feel the language could be adjusted to be more clear and less ambiguous,” MBUTA President Shawn Chen said.
According to Matthews, the MBUSD board is focusing in on the hours and assignment article. This article deals with the amount of school days and scheduling the amount of holidays.
“After the hearing we can schedule negotiations. Ten days must pass after we have sunshined our proposals until we can sit down in private and discuss the negotiations. One side will say I think this should be changed and the other side will either say maybe or even no I don’t want to change that.” Matthews said.
MBUTA’s executive board chooses their executive board chooses their representatives in the negotiations. They aim to select a teacher from each grade level. Representatives in management will represent the district in negotiations. Both teams then report back to the teachers and the district.
“One of my goals is to always consider these negotiations to be conversations between adults,” Matthews said. They are about adult issues and should not be affecting our students.”
After the Sept. 16 meeting, negotiation dates can be set. There is no minimum or maximum numbers of meetings. Thus, this contract could take weeks or months, according to MBUSD Assistant Superintendent Dr. Murakawa-Leopard
“I think we all hope the reactions will be speedy,” Matthews said. “I would hope it will be done before the end of this year’s calendar, last year was very well done on both sides and that is what I would hope for this year.”
Only four out of the preexisting 18 articles will be reviewed once negotiation dates are set. This means that the 14 articles will not be discussed. Articles that will not be discussed include summer school, class size, and leaves. According to Dr. Matthews, this is timesaving and exciting.
“I am very hopeful that the process will go smoothly and that we’ll be able to develop revisions to the contract that will benefit MBUTA, the District, and ultimately and most importantly, our students,” MBUSD Assistant Superintendent Dr. Murakawa-Leopard said.
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