West Contra Costa Unified, teachers union reach tentative agreement for fall

After months of negotiations, West Contra Costa Unified and its teachers union, the United Teachers of Richmond, have reached a tentative contract agreement for the 2021-22 school year.

The union and district were at odds over class sizes; the union at one point even walked away from the bargaining table over what union officials called “bad-faith bargaining” from the district.

The district has said since January that it will return to full in-person instruction in the fall.

The tentative agreement, which was signed by the bargaining teams Monday afternoon, calls for an average class size for grades TK-3 of 22 students, with a maximum of 23 students. It also mandates an average of 30 students (with a 31 student maximum) for grades 4-8 in elementary schools and also in K-8 schools. Math, English, English language development, social sciences and science classes at middle and high schools will have a maximum of 36 students, with a maximum of 52 students for physical education and 37 for other classes.

The new class sizes requirements will result in more than 120 more teachers in classrooms next school year, district officials said Monday.

The contract would allow teachers to volunteer to accept students over their maximum in exchange for a salary increase of 3.5%.

The contract also calls for the hiring of 12 new academic counselors, resulting in a 338:1 student to counselor ratio for K-8 and middle schools and a 350:1 student to counselor ratio for high schools — down from 700:1. Each comprehensive high school will also have at least one college and career counselor.

United Teachers of Richmond members must still vote whether or not to ratify the agreement. If the agreement is ratified, the district’s school board could vote as early as July 14 in order to approve the agreement.