Letter to the Community RE: LEA Bargaining

September 14, 2023

Dear Lafayette Community,

We deeply value our teachers and staff, and firmly believe they are the most important asset to our District and our students’ learning. As you may know, for the past six months, we have been meeting regularly with the Lafayette Education Association to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement for our teachers and other certificated staff members. Our primary goal has been to provide significant ongoing compensation increases that will allow us to attract and retain staff and stay competitive with surrounding districts while remaining fiscally sound.

Last Wednesday, the District was pleased to provide LEA with our latest proposal, which we have linked for your information. Here are some of the highlights:

A 12% salary increase for all teachers
Additional compensation increases for both new teachers and longest-serving LAFSD teachers
Significant additional pay increases for teachers who joined the Lafayette School District without receiving full credit for their previous work experience in other districts
Additional paid preparation time for elementary teachers

The District’s offer makes teachers in Lafayette strongly competitive in our area, with salaries placing us at 1st or 2nd highest in Walamorinda in 23-24.

District Name	First Step (New Credentialed Teachers)	BA+45 Step 10 (Middle of schedule)	Last Step	YEARS OF SERVICE LIMIT WHEN HIRED
Lafayette (Current)	$50,380	$74,280	$100,871	5 years
Sept 6 LAFSD Final Offer 12% \| Step 3 Start \| Add Step 25	$64,530	$83,193	$115,697	10 years
Orinda (23-24)	$62,574	$82,477	$114,974	NO CAP
Walnut Creek (23-24)	$59,184	$87,980	$116,091	8-10 years
Moraga (22-23)	$59,395	$74,668	$113,579	NO CAP
New Ranking After September 6 Offer	1st place	2nd place	2nd place	2nd place

In total, the District’s offer of 12% for all teachers, and significantly more for many, means that our teachers have received at least a 17% pay increase over the last three years, which is in line with our neighboring districts.

District	21/22 Salary Increase	22/23 Salary Increase*	23/24 Salary Increase	Three-Year Compensation Increase To Date
Lafayette	3% plus 2% bonus	2% plus 1% bonus	September 6 Final Offer 12%	17% plus 3% bonus
Orinda	3%	8%	7%	18%
Walnut Creek	5%	8%	5%	18%
Moraga	4%	7.5%	No 23/24 Update	11.5%

*settled as part of a 2 year agreement in June 2021

We met with the LEA team this afternoon and were disappointed to learn that they rejected our proposal.

We remain hopeful that we can reach an agreement with LEA that balances our shared desire to value our teachers and maintain a fiscally sound budget that safeguards the student programs that make our schools as special as they are.

We value engagement with the community about this important topic. We are committed to keeping our community informed and being transparent and open about our budget, how our District is funded, and our shared priorities. For more information, join us this Monday, September 18 at 6pm on Zoom for a Budget Presentation.

On behalf of the Lafayette School District and the Lafayette School District Governing Board:

Brent Stephens, Superintendent

Suzy Pak, Governing Board President

Meredith Meade, Governing Board Clerk

Rob Sturm, Governing Board Member

Dave Smith, Governing Board Member

Katy Foreman, Governing Board Member