South Bay Union teachers vote to strike

An emergency proposal to combat any impact of a potentially imminent teachers strike at South Bay Union failed to move forward Thursday following pressure from the community.   

Though district officials said they hope to avoid a teacher strike, there’s a significant chance that a large number of them will, essentially impacting operations and jeopardizing student safety. The resolution would have provided Superintendent Jose Espinoza with several authorizations, including the ability to close some campuses and hire substitutes at a higher pay rate during the emergency. Board member Jannet Medina made a motion to approve the item, but none of her colleagues joined.

Earlier Thursday, members of the Southwest Teachers Association overwhelmingly authorized a strike. The parties have yet to reach an agreement on wage, special education, hours of employment and evaluations.

Vanessa Barrera, president of the teachers union, told inewsource there is no set date for the potential strike. If they’re still at an impasse after a fact-finding hearing next week, the union will wait until a report of the findings is released before taking any action, she said. 

“At this point, our members have voiced that they are willing to do whatever it takes to reach that fair agreement, even if that means going on strike,” Barrera said. 

Next week, a three-member panel will review the district’s finances over two days and release a recommendation. Both the district and union will then decide whether to accept the recommendation and all parties will continue to exercise their rights under that process. 

Several community members spoke against the emergency resolution, including parents who threatened to keep their children home from school and remove their children from the district entirely if officials failed to reach a deal with the union. 

“Our kids need stability,” Nicole Gomez, a parent with two students at Emory Academy, told board members. “And if you don’t start listening to us, we will vote you out of your position, and you won’t get that paycheck.” 

Some teachers also said the district will pay more out of pocket for temporary workers despite its money challenges. The proposal had called for a daily pay rate as high as $950 for the emergency substitutes.

“What is most frustrating is that SBUSD has likely spent more money fighting this reopener than it would cost to settle it,” one teacher said during Thursday’s meeting. “As my sixth grader students would say, your math isn’t mathing.”

South Bay Union is already facing staff issues. 

Several special education classrooms are filled with agency staff, interns who don’t have their credentials yet and long-term substitutes because the district is unable to attract talent, Barrera said. The district also has unfilled roles, including three speech and language pathologist positions — at least one of which has been vacant for several years, she added. 

It’s difficult to provide services in a timely fashion — and within the legal time frame — and it impacts students directly, said Monica Hueso-Melgar, a special education specialist at the district, during Thursday’s board meeting. 

“I apologize if I sound like a broken record, but this is very important to me and to my students,” she said. 

The district is going through a financially difficult time and better funding is needed for the public system, particularly special education, said board member Kelly Leiker. If teachers decide to strike, they should look to San Diego Unified, where the district and union worked to come to a solution, she added.

She also said some board members have been subjected to bullying tactics outside their home and while with their children, including individuals handing out flyers with their faces and numbers without context. 

The union talks come as South Bay Union prepares to close three campuses because of massive enrollment declines. Its nearly $115 million budget faces a roughly $27 million shortfall and the district is projected to operate its remaining schools in a deficit until at least mid-2028, according to financial records released last month.