SPED caseload grievances: An update & call to action

The District has finally responded to SDEA’s union-wide caseload grievance.

This year SDEA filed a unionwide grievance because so many Ed. Specialists have caseloads over the contractual limits. This has been the case for years now, but going into this school year the District still had not responded to the grievance submitted at the beginning of last school year. After months of follow-up and conversations, the District has finally shared a settlement offer for a grievance settlement that addresses both years. The District is proposing monthly stipends based on the highest reported caseloads, ranging from $500 to $2000 depending on how many students were assigned.

See the full proposal here.

Since it took nearly a year and a half to even propose a settlement to the 2023-24 grievance and ongoing staffing shortages have not improved, now there are two unresolved grievances related to caseload overages, for this academic year and last year. Surprisingly, the District included language that the same stipends would be used to preemptively address overages for the current 2024-25 school year.

*Note: The proposal contains references to an Exhibit A (a list of eligible members), which will be generated once the agreement is finalized. In case of discrepancies a Caseload Grievance Appeal Form will also be available. The deadline for that form would also be adjusted based on when we finalize an agreement.

SDEA has not signed off on this offer. It’s too little, too late.

This belated and insufficient offer does not address the urgent needs expressed by Ed. Specialists. The proposed structure of the stipends means that many Ed. Specialists would be getting less compensation as a remedy for being just as overloaded as they were in the past. Additionally, it took District leadership over a year to come up with this offer. This indicates that they simply do not share our sense of urgency to fully staff Special Education positions – a need that our educators and school communities feel acutely every day.

This is part of a bigger picture: An urgent lack of Special Education staffing.

SDEA leaders have heard over and over that while members absolutely deserve to be compensated for the extra work caused by caseload overages, their main concern is that settlement checks alone are not solving the problem of Special Education Staffing. Being over caseload impacts the ability to adequately serve our students, the District’s proposed grievance settlement would provide extremely belated and shrinking checks to burned-out educators who are over caseload today.

Mark your calendar: Rally at the January 28th Board Meeting!

SDEA will “sunshine” our We Can’t Wait bargaining platform at the January 28th SDUSD Board Meeting – the official beginning of negotiations. This is also an opportunity for the District to agree to a fair settlement to our caseload overage grievances that better supports SDUSD students, and to show our strength in numbers. Through our collective action, we can make the Board feel that same sense of urgency: It’s time to fully staff our schools and demand concrete solutions to the chronic understaffing of Special Education!

• What: Rally at the San Diego Unified Board Meeting!
• When: Tuesday, January 28th, 2025 – 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
• Where: 4100 Normal Street
• How: We’ll rally at the flagpole & walk into the Board meeting together!