Marysville School District

4220 80th Street NE, Marysville, WA 98270

TeachersAgreementReachedSchoolOpensSeptember6th

Thislettertoourfamiliesandcommunitiesoutlinessomeofthechangesthatwillaffectstudents.
LastspringthelegislaturemadedramaticcutstostatefundingthathaveimpactedMarysville.Nineteenelementarypositionswere eliminatednearlytwoteachersperbuilding.Asaresult,classsizeswillrisedramatically.Thelegislaturealsoreducedfundingfor teachersalariesforcing296districtstonegotiatereductionsoverthesummer. InMarysville,teachersandthedistrictagreedto: Increaseclassroomsizeswithnoincreaseinclasssizecompensation. 0.9%reductioninpayasmuchas$650forsometeachers. Furloughtimeforteacherslessworktimeforlesspaysimilartostateemployees.

EarlyReleaseDays
Boththedistrictandtheteachersassociationfounditverychallengingtoaddresstheobstaclespresentedtousbythestate legislature.Wemetadozentimesoverthesummer,duringvacationtimeinJuly,andheldmanyalldaysessions.Becauseofthe relationshipwehavebuiltoverthepastfewyearswewereabletoworkthroughseveraldifficultissues.Thankstogoodwilland hardworkbyallparties,eachagreedtolessthanwemighthavehoped.Thistentativeagreementwillallowustogetonwiththe businessofopeningschoolontime.Ourmissionremainsparamount100%everystudent Proficientinliteracyandmath Graduatingontime Preparedforsuccessincollege,career,andresponsiblecitizenship Despitedifficulteconomictimes,welookforwardtoapositiveandproductiveschoolyear.Weareencouragedbyourrecent graduationresultsourhighesteveratwellover80%aswellasotherareasofgoodnewsaboutourworkonstudent achievement. EarlyreleasedayswillmovefromFridaystoWednesdays.Inaddition,thestudentdaywillbelongeronthesedaysthan inyearspast.Thestudentdaywillbeshortened90minutesinsteadof150minutes.EarlyReleaseDaysalsoknownas ProfessionalGrowthWednesdaysprovideessentialtimeforteachertraining,reviewofstudentworkandworking togethertohelpstudentscatchup.Totalinstructionaltimeovercourseoftheyearremainsthesameasithasbeenin previousyears.

SchoolCalendarandBellSchedule(schoolstartandendtimes)
Theschoolcalendarandbellschedulefor20112012isprintedonpagesthreeandfourofthispublication.Thecalendar outlinesindetail,ProfessionalGrowthWednesdays,nonschooldays(breaksandholidays),conferencedatesandteacher furloughtime.Thecalendarmayalsobeviewed,downloaded,orprintedfromthedistrictwebsite:www.msvl.k12.wa.us.

SchoolLunchPrices
Althoughnotapartoftheteacherscontract,statebudgetcutsalsoimpactedthecostofschoollunches.Mealpriceswillincreaseby25 centspermealthefirstincreaseinthreeyears.Milkpricesremainunchanged.Chartwells,thefoodserviceproviderinMarysville, agreedtoa$100,000reductionintheirmanagementfeetoinsurethecontinuationofhealthylunchesonabreakevenbasis.

BusSchedules
BusscheduleswerepublishedintheBacktoSchoolGuideinmidAugust.Theguidewasmailedtoallfamiliesinthedistrictandisalso availableonthedistrictwebsite(www.msvl.k12.wa.us).ClickHEREtoviewtheguideandbusschedules.

MoreDetailontheCollectiveBargainingAgreementbetweentheDistrictandourTeachers

Duetostatelegislativeactionlastspringstatefundingforteachersalarieswasreducedby1.9%andclassifiedandadministrative staffsalarieswerereducedby3%.Thelegislaturedeclinedtoreducetheschoolyearormakeastatewidedecision.Therefore,296 districtsacrossthestatehavehadtonegotiateseparatelywitheachbargainingunithoweachdistrictwouldaddressthe legislativebudgetcuts.Bargainingreductionsinsalaryhasbeenextremelychallenging.Despitegoodwillandhardworkbyall parties,weeachinevitablyendupwithlessthanwewouldhope. SalaryReduction:TheStatelegislaturecutfundingforteachersalariesacrossthestateby1.9%andlefteachdistricttonegotiate withitsownteacheruniontofigureoutwhatthatwouldlooklike.Alldistrictshavestruggledtofindwaystodealwiththestate salaryreductionsandfurloughtime.Severaldistrictsinourregionwithmultiyearcontracts,largerlevies,orlargercashreserves havemadeuptheentire1.9%and/orprovidedforpayincreases.InournegotiationswithMEA,teachersalarieswillbereduced bynearly1%andweagreedtofurloughtimeonmultipledays. LegislativeLeave:Manyprivateandpublicemployeeshavebeenrequiredtotakefurloughtimelesspayforlesswork.Thestate legislature,forexample,negotiatedareductioninpayforstateworkersandthenprovidedanequivalentamountoftimeoff.Since theteacherscontractyearisessentiallythesameasthestudentyear,furloughtimemustcomeduringthestudentschoolyear.As withotherunions,thesameworkforlesspayisnotanacceptableoption.Inordertotreatteacherssimilarlytostateemployees weagreedtoseveralexceptionallyshort,twohourschooldaystoprovidefurloughtimeoffforteachers.Fouroftheseshortened schooldayscomeinconjunctionwithThanksgiving,winterbreak,Presidentsdayweekend,andMemorialDayweekend.Thereare threeadditionalfurloughtimedays,thefirstonecomingonOctober14th. InstructionalTimeRemainsUnchanged:Wearerequiredtoprovide1000hoursofinstructionforstudentsandwewillcontinueto doso.Wewillmaintainthesameamountofinstructionaltimeaswehaveofferedoverthelastseveralyears. EarlyReleaseDaysMovetoWednesday:Overthelast3years,duetolegislativecuts,wehavelostfundingforprofessionaltrain ingdaysforteachers.Manydistrictsarenowusingearlyreleasedaysasawaytoprovidetimetoworkwithstafftocontinue effortstomoveallstudentstostandard(NCLB).Teachersusethistimetolookatstudentprogress,setgoalsforimprovingstudent learning,planlessonstogether,andmakeplanstohelpstudentscatchup.Severalchangeshavebeenmadeintheearlyrelease days.Thestudentdaywillbeshortened90minutesinsteadof150minutes.Thiswillenableusto: Findtimetodostafftrainingandcontinueourimprovingachievementtrends. Holdbothsessionsofhalfdaykindergartenonearlyreleasedays(previouslyamorpmKindergartenhadtoalternateonthose days). Extendtheamountofinstructionaltimeonearlyreleasedays. Providemorestudentswiththelunchbeforetheendoftheearlyreleasedays. Increasetheconsistencyforfamiliesbyschedulingearlyreleasedaysmoreconsistentlyonthesamedayoftheweek. ClassSize:DuetolegislativereductionsincludinglargereductionsinK4teachers(19fewerteachersforMarysville),classsizeswill goupabouttwostudentsperclassattheelementarylevelandonestudentperclassatthesecondarylevel.Teachershaveagreed totaketheseaddedstudentsatnoincreaseincompensation. OtherEmployeeGroups:Everyemployeegrouphasworkedwithustomakesimilarreductions.Districtadministratorsaretaking fourfurloughdaysandapaycuttoabsorbthestatereductionsinadministrativepay(3%).Thesuperintendenthastakenavolun tarypayreductionof3%(nowforthethirdyear). OtherBudgetReductions:Overthepastseveralyears,thedistricthasreducedthebudgetby$12million.Duringthelastschool yearwehadtomakedramaticmidyearreductionsduetounprecedentedmidyearcutsfromthestatelegislature.Forthiscoming year,wehavemadeanother$5millioninbudgetcuts.Withnearly$20millionincutsoverrecentyears,weareallhavingtofind waystodomorewithless.Increasinglyeachandeverybudgetcuthasanimpact.Therearenoeasybudgetcutslefttomake.And witheachcut,weeachfeelthepainofgettingbywithless.Weremaincommittedtoourmissionandwearemakinggainsin studentlearningandgraduationrates. OurCommitment:Despitethechallengeswehaveoutlinedabove,weremaincommittedtoprovidingastrongcurriculum,asafe learningenvironment,andeffectiveinstructiontohelpallchildren,everychild,yourchildachieve.

20112012SchoolYearCalendar

BellSchedule(SchoolStartandEndTimes)