Coming Down To The Wire For Calaveras Schools

San Andreas, CA — Negotiations will continue into the night in an attempt to avoid a teacher walkout on Thursday.

During a break from today’s negotiations, Calaveras Unified School District Superintendent Mark Campbell told Clarke Broadcasting that he and leaders of the Calaveras Unified Educators Association will continue to meet into the night to try to avoid a strike tomorrow. Campbell notes that the sticking point remains compensation. Currently, the district is offering a two percent salary increase and the teachers want a 6.5 percent raise and a $100 per month medical cap. In reaction to that gap, Campbell states, “I feel the dialogs open. I don’t feel that we are getting as close as we would like and in as quick a time frame as we would like, but I think it’s highly encouraging that we’re continuing to talk. That means that there is still light at the end of the tunnel.”

Campbell notes that the district is in the process of determining exactly how many substitute teachers will be available on Thursday in the event of a strike. He adds that the district is also projecting a loss of classified support staff. With those two impacts the district is in a state of flux, according to Campbell who details, “We sent out a communication to all parents earlier indicating that if we had a shortage of staff tomorrow (Thursday) that we would be closing schools. There is a very strong likelihood that if we can’t reach resolution tonight that we would see school closures tomorrow and possibly Friday. If that is the case, we will be sending out a district wide communication to inform parents of that but we’re striving hard to avoid that.”