Sonoma Valley Teachers Win Historic Agreement That Boosts Educator Retention and Recruitment
Following successful mediation on Oct. 1, 2024, the Valley of the Moon Teachers Association (VMTA) and Sonoma Valley Unified School District (SVUSD) administration were able to reach a tentative agreement to resolve contract negotiations for the 2024-25 school year. This week, VMTA members voted to ratify the tentative agreement. It now goes to the SVUSD Board of Trustees for ratification.
“We are proud of the agreement reached with the SVUSD administration and pleased our members voted to ratify. While we can be disappointed that the SVUSD administration and board have put our community in this difficult fiscal position where they are considering consolidating schools, we decided to do everything we can to keep class sizes small if that should happen because our number one concern is and has always been our students,” said Sonoma Valley High School Construction Technology Teacher and VMTA Bargaining Chair Drue Jacobs.
“Although we were not able to make progress towards offering competitive salaries that will ensure we can recruit and retain the best educators to live and work in Sonoma, we feel we were able to make meaningful improvements to teachers’ working conditions and students’ learning conditions. For us, this is huge and will impact our lives tremendously,” said Jacobs.
The successful vote by VMTA members will avert a teacher strike in Sonoma Valley only if the SVUSD Board of Trustees votes to ratify the tentative agreement. The SVUSD Board of Trustees has a study session scheduled for Oct. 29, 2024, and the next regular board meeting on Nov. 14, 2024.
“We hope the SVUSD Board of Trustees will do the right thing and ratify the tentative agreement made with the SVUSD administration. Our educators made meaningful sacrifices to do what is best for our students. Now what happens next is up to the Board of Trustees,” said Math Teacher at Adele Harrison Middle School and VMTA Co-President Laura Hoban.
