Monthly Archives: March 2014

Rowland Unified teachers want a 10 percent raise

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By Staff Writer Steve Scauzillo

Raises for teachers are just some of the major issues before the school board Tuesday night.

The board Tuesday will hear from Douglas Staine, assistant superintendent of human resources, on the status of ongoing labor talks with Association of Rowland Educators (ARE)  and with the California School Employees Association (CSEA).

The district and its teachers are moving closer on the issue of salary hikes.

ARE moved from 12.5 percent over two years to 10 percent over one year. The district moved its offer from 3.5 percent to a 4.5 percent salary increase over two years.

The district also proposed increasing its maximum health benefits contribution for teachers by $850 over two years.

The district is concerned about the teachers’ proposal for a one-year pay hike for this year, retroactive to July 1, 2013. “This was a significant departure from prior sessions because both teams had been exchanging two year compensation proposals for 2013-14 and 2014-15,” according to the district’s “Negotiation Update” released Feb. 25.

Petersen said the union negotiators consolidated their offer into one year because the teachers are not sure what to expect from the district next year. He was positive about the district’s funding presentation from Ron Bennett, a consultant hired by RUSD.

But the teachers said there is too much uncertainty in scheduling of teacher training days and in other aspects of work days. “We are trying to develop a system where we have a plan. In this district, in the last decade, plans change from month to month.”

Petersen added: “It is the culture of the district. It has everything to do with trust and controlling our working conditions.”

Beginning teachers with a bachelor’s degree and no experience earn an annual salary of $45,180 at RUSD, which is ranked 18th out of 47 school districts, according to a salary survey from the Los Angeles County Office of Education dated June 2013. Arcadia Unified was No. 1 with starting salaries at $49,874; Bassett Unifed was near the bottom at $38,776. Charter Oak was last at $38,495.

Teachers with a master’s degree and listed as the maximum salary step for RUSD earn $69,216, for a ranking of 21 out of 34 districts for which there was comparable data, according to the LACOE report.

RUSD operates 19 schools in Rowland Heights, Walnut, La Puente, Industry and West Covina — with 15,000 students. Board meetings are held at district headquarters, 1830 S. Nogales St., at 5:30 p.m. for the closed session and 7 p.m. for the regular session.

Rowland school board to “discuss” superintendent’s contract

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By Staff Writer Steve Scauzillo

The fate of the Rowland Unified superintendent — including the next phase of his contract —is one of the major issues before the school board Tuesday night.

Board members of the Rowland Unified School District are scheduled to vote on an amendment to Superintendent Ruben Frutos’ contract. The district is tight-lipped about whether that means retaining Frutos for a longer period of time. His contract runs out June 30.

For almost a year, teachers, parents and community members have staged protests, wrote letters and emails and pleaded in person before the five-member board to open the superintendent’s position to other applicants by conducting an extensive search.

The Association of Rowland Educators officially asked for an open search on Feb. 4, saying the 700-member teachers union has no confidence in Frutos. He has not served as a teacher or principal and has not proven himself a worthy leader, according to ARE President John Petersen.

The request for a superintendent search, however, is only a discussion item and not scheduled for board action.

“A member of the community brought this forward and under our board policy, we are respectfully putting it on the agenda,” Board president Heidi Gallegos said Monday. “We will have a discussion.”

Gallegos declined to elaborate on the amendment of the superintendent’s contract, only to say it will first be discussed in closed session.

RUSD operates 19 schools in Rowland Heights, Walnut, La Puente, Industry and West Covina — with 15,000 students. Board meetings are held at district headquarters, 1830 S. Nogales St., at 5:30 p.m. for the closed session and 7 p.m. for the regular session.

Mt SAC wins gold medals in SkillsUSA contest

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Mt. San Antonio College vocational education students won four gold medals, three silver, and a bronze at the SkillsUSA regional competition held recently at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, and seven qualified to advance to the 47th Annual State Leadership Conference competition on April 24-27 at the Town Country Resort and Convention Center in San Diego. 

Rhiannon Britney (West Covina) and Kevin Velasquez (Ontario) won gold medals in technical drafting and will advance to the state competition. Sukhdev Singh (Chino) won a gold medal for technical design and will advance to state. In the electronics technology competition, Jose Gomez (Azusa) won first place and Cesar Bustamante (Anaheim) took the silver medal. Both will advance to the state level. In telecommunications cabling, Samuel Arrieta (Monrovia) took second place and Hyun Cha (Rowland Heights) won third place with both advancing to state.

Other competitors for Mt. SAC were Carlos Galdamez (West Covina) with a silver medal in technical drafting, Trevor Lauritson (Pomona) with a fifth-place finish in technical drafting, and Rodrigo Del Villar (El Monte) with sixth place in the computer maintenance technology competition.

First-place winners at the state competition will advance to the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference slated for June 21-27 in Kansas City, Missouri. 

The SkillsUSA championships are showcases for the best career and technical students in the country. Contests begin locally and continue through the state and national levels. More than 5,600 students are expected to compete at this year’s national event. 

SkillsUSA is a nationally affiliated vocational club representing secondary and post-secondary students in the trade, technical and health fields. The vocational education organization represents more than a quarter million students in over 13,000 chapters nationwide.