Dear GUSD families:

I’m writing to provide you with some important updates about the current status of negotiations between the Gilroy Unified School District and Gilroy Teachers Association (GTA).  The negotiations teams for both sides have been working to reach an agreement on salary and benefit increases that is retroactive to the beginning of the 2022-23 school year.  Meetings between the groups began on December 8,  2022, and are continuing.  The District wishes to focus our financial resources on salary and health/welfare increases in the interest of recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers and other certificated staff members to educate your children.

The Gilroy Teachers Association represents the District’s certificated staff members, including: teachers, school counselors, academic coordinators, literacy facilitators, and other staff members who are responsible for educating students.  The District’s negotiations team has already reached agreements with the District’s two other bargaining units: CSEA (California School Employees Association) and GFP (Gilroy Federation of Paraeducators).

During the negotiations process, the District team has remained committed to reaching a mutually beneficial contract with GTA that benefits our certificated staff members, while maintaining the financial solvency of the District.

The current proposal that the District has presented GTA includes a two-year overall compensation package increase of 16.25%, which includes salary increases retroactive to July 1, 2022 and benefit increases to reduce out-of-pocket costs to employees in both 2023 and 2024 calendar years.  The proposal also includes an offer of one-time stipends for members.  GTA members will be eligible for up to approximately $28,000 in contributions toward health care expenses in addition to salary.  All of this represents a total offer of over $14.4 million from the District.

The District’s negotiations team requested a meeting with the GTA team yesterday to present this offer.  The GTA team declined an opportunity to provide a counter proposal to the District, and informed the District that they will file for fact-finding, the next step in the negotiations process. 

Attached to this message is the negotiations update that was sent to staff today which provides detailed information about the District’s proposal to the Gilroy Teachers Association negotiations team.  We believe that this offer is fair and reasonable. The District has the responsibility of maintaining fiscal stability at a time when we are experiencing a steady decline in student enrollment, which directly impacts the District’s revenue.  This offer demonstrates our commitment to continue providing high quality educational experiences for our students.

We remain hopeful that the District and GTA will reach an agreement that is mutually beneficial for both parties, while maintaining our shared commitment to our students and families.

Best regards,
Anisha Munshi, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Gilroy Unified School District