Negotiations Update 21 September 2026

After our last productive negotiations session, we are happy to see some of the same momentum. PFF brought three article counterproposals and the District brought one. We requested more proposals for future meetings as we are very late in closing this contract.

📌 MOU_Academy Program Skills Assistants

• In between our 9-4-26 negotiations and our 9-21-26 negotiations, we had to do some emergency negotiations around the CTE Academy Programs to ensure the programs could continue to run on Monday, September 21st. The District could have used language in 15.7 to pay impacted folks in the interim, but they risked the health of the program fighting to pay these folks at the short-term hourly rate of $35-$45. Given that the impacted faculty were not willing to risk their programs, PFF agreed to a 30-day agreement for this rate and will continue to explore the impacts of adding this new position to our CBA before negotiating anything beyond those 30 days.

• At the table, we shared our concerns about whether this new tier of faculty simply perpetuates the District’s reliance on short-term hourly positions for ongoing work, potentially at lower rates of pay. We want to ensure that CTE employees and retirees are fairly compensated, especially when comparable noninstructional work is paid at higher rates. If safety or accreditation requires additional staffing, these positions should be appropriately funded with clear protections. Additionally, the FIRE program was featured at the last community showcase. We emphasized that it is particularly concerning that the District is proud to showcase these programs to our community but refuses to compensate appropriately. As always, cost savings are often built on faculty passion for their programs. 

📌 Article 4 (Workload & Calendar) Counterproposal #1 (PFF)

• We agreed to some clarifying language but rejected some important asks from the district around flexibility for Spring Break, flexibility for All College Day, and a requirement for on-campus presence by full-time faculty. We noted that designating Spring Break in between Week 8 and Week 9 of the semester allows for consistency and avoids dangling weeks for fast-track classes. We were firm that All College Day has been a longstanding clear contractual boundary for the Friday before classes begin in the Fall. Additionally, we rejected language designating the two weeks before the semester as noninstructional days to avoid blurring the boundaries of summer and the semester. 

✅ Article 13 (Safety) Counterproposal #1 (PFF)

• We were able to agree to the District’s adjustments. Article 13 now includes:

  • A reference to the District’s emergency response plans

  • Language to protect faculty compensation in the event of an emergency

  • District responsibilities to provide classrooms and offices with internal locking abilities as well as timely accessible notification systems 

📌 Article 25 (Intellectual Property) Counterproposal #1 (PFF)

• Our initial proposal included language around technology and artificial intelligence impacts to intellectual property. In their counter, the District agreed to the majority of our proposal with a few concerns around one section: “The provision of District-licensed artificial intelligence software, general technology resources, or enterprise software available to faculty generally shall not constitute substantial support.” In our discussions, we all agreed on the need to update our language around substantial support to move beyond brick and mortar teaching environments. In our counter, we adjusted and relocated the language to better address that need. 

📌 MOU_Pilot Reading Specialist (PFF)

• Per the Reading Revitalization group, PFF presented a proposal to allow for the Reading Department to explore a workload similar to that of our librarians with reading-related duties to support reading instruction across the disciplines. Additionally, we advocated for a lower workload factor for new  noncredit classes during this pilot period.

📌 Article 10 District Counterproposal #1 (District)

• The District shared their counter to our initial proposal and agreed to some clarifying language as well as our extension of the reporting window for part-time faculty to engage in professional development and report hours. This is a big change that will allow part-time faculty to engage in more professional development opportunities. There are still a few items left to be negotiated in this article, but we are close to TAing. 

📌 MOU_Work Based Learning AY 27-28 

• The District shared a friendly addition to the agenda to present an extension to our grant-funded Work-Based Learning Coordinator position. 

Discussion

• TERB Forms & Coaching Evaluations - The District shared a proposed addendum to the non-instructional evaluation forms specific to coaching. The TERB Coordinator joined us to discuss the history of noninstructional evaluations. Some of the criteria seemed amenable, but some regarding success rates were concerning. The parties agreed to discuss further with those impacted before discussing more. 

• Calendar 27-28 - the parties agreed to review the edits over Zoom in a smaller group so that the calendar could be posted. 

• Remaining Articles - the parties reviewed the remaining articles. PFF brought up that we can’t continue at this pace with just one proposal from the District at every meeting.

District Pending Proposals	District Pending Counters	PFF Pending Proposals	PFF Pending Counters
Article 1 Agreement Article 6 Union Rights Article 12 Department Chairs/Coordinators Article 24 Professional Responsibilities Appendix B Appendix C Appendix E Appendix L	Article 4 Workload & Calendar D 8-10-26  PFF Counter #1: 9-21-26 Article 8 Class Maximums D 3-5-26 (recd 4-7-26) PFF Counter #1: 4-23-26 D Counter #1: 8-10-26 PFF Counter #2: 9-4-26 Article 11 Personnel Files PFF Proposal: 4-8-26 Article 16 Benefits & Appendix E D Proposal: 5-20-26 PFF Counter #1: 6-17-26 Article 25 Intellectual Property PFF Proposal: 8-10-26 D Counter #1: 9-4-26 Article 26 Broadcast & Recording Instruction PFF Proposal: 8-10-26 Article 28 Dual Enrollment  PFF Proposal: 6-17-26 MOU_TERB Noninstructional Forms  PFF Proposal: 8-10-26 MOU_Implementing AB 65  PFF Proposal: 9-4-26 MOU_Reading Specialist  PFF Proposal: 9-21-26	Article 5 Nondiscrimination Article 7 District Rights Article 20 Working Conditions Article 23 No Concerted Refusal to Work Appendix F Reassigned Time & Stipends Appendix H Coaches	Article 10 PD PFF Proposal: 9-4-26 D Counter #1: 9-21-26 Article 15 Compensation PFF Proposal: 2-4-26 D Counter #1: 5-6-26 Article 27 Resignation PFF Proposal: 8-10-26 D Counter #1: 9-4-26 MOU_WBL Coordinator  D Proposal: 9-21-26 28-29 Calendar D Proposal: 8-10-26 PFF Info Request: 8-17-26  District committed to getting us data by 9-29-26
8 initial proposals	10 counter-proposals	6 initial proposals	5 counter-proposals

TAed Articles: 3

• Article 9

• Article 13

• Article 21

Next meetings:

• Tuesday, September 29th

• Tuesday, October 20th

Signing off—but still here for every comma, clause, and cause.

Your PFF Negotiations Team