I support these raises for teachers! They are working so hard to transfer all of their lessons to an online learning environment. Thank you, teachers!

"Money is no object" for this district. Voters just authorized hundreds of millions in more borrowing to be repaid through higher property taxes. The district does not run on student attendance - just tax money.

Kudos for the teacher's unions for their continued success to browbeat the beleaguered city council into fiscal submission yet again. Hopefully, people will see merit in homeschooling or even neighborhood smaller schools to avoid the public school system.

Good to see that they have their priorities straight

While companies all over the district are cutting salaries or laying people off the district hands out a raise.

When tax revenues are surely going to decline.. let's hand out a raise.

When the rest of us are cutting back.. let's hand out a raise.

Sounds like a really smart move when you think about it.

What's hilarious is that the two district administrators quoted above, Ghysels, whose reputation proceeds her and who is up for retirement, and Westover, whose reputation coming from Palo Alto is not much better, have ZERO expertise or training in state financing and the economics of recession or anything besides public education!! They are both former teachers and principals turned district office cronies now charged with 'splaning how it all works to the dumb folk or Mountain View. Pigs at the trough. Plain and simple. With absolutely no shame or concern for what might lay on the other side of this pandemic. And the Board? Not a whisper. An utter failure. My lord we should all be scared.

"The closures, combined with local, state, and national related fiscal impacts will dramatically change the assumptions used to build the 2020-21 [PAUSD] school budget." Web Link

Dan Waylonis, you may want to fact check your statements in the future.
Mountain View City Council had nothing to do with the salary increases.
The elected Mountain View Whisman School District Board of Trustees makes the decisions on salaries. Dan, now you know the difference.

@know the difference

You should also know that the two individuals quoted, Ghysels and Westover, 'splaining it all with deep-thought economic theory to the taxpayers, are both in line to benefit from the raises substantially. How more subjective and biased can things get? Oh, and "Trustees swiftly approved the contract agreement with no discussion." Why?

Now you know.

I'd partly agree with my fellow former MVWSD Trustee Christopher Chiang. I think it is poor public fiscal policy to negotiate (this is not 'give') a ONE YEAR "BONUS" that is on top of a 3% cost of living adjustment.

It is too bad that the Trustee decided to LET THE CONTRACT EXPIRE and did not force the administration to negotiate this before the school year started. IMO, fiscal policy error. (which is why you don't much hear this Board in serious budget discussion)

Think that the teachers' union did a quite reasonable negotiation. I would have preferred to see local-inflation-linked COLA yearly for next three years (about 10% commutative) contingent on keeping Fiscal Reserves at the current designated % of total yearly Budget.

= contracts for Ghysels = are separate from regular Principals or other lower management. As Chaing and I noted on the 'sweetheart deal' contract with the Superintendent, the employment contract with Ghysels contains a SUPER HEALTH CARE BENEFITS clause, where she is guaranteed the 'all costs covered' deal that the Board gave to the Superintendent.

Who else has all copays/deductibles paid for by their employer? [we shall see with the Transparent California salary+benefits reporting how much this SUPER HEALTH CARE BENEFITS clause is costing the District] [it wasn't clear to me that the contract text excluded optional cosmetic surgery for instance] Teachers and other get nothing at all like this benefit! Only top management.

The District failed when they couldn't finalize the contract terms last year. Teachers have been working months on an unapproved contract. Good job teachers for fighting for your raise that you deserved months ago - you've been working hard to adjust your careers even without an appropriate contract and now are having to relearn your entire career through online learning.

Another set of raises being voted on tonight, now nearing $3 million total. The board could have asked the district to delay voting on raises until after more is known about next year's budget or to place a fiscal emergency rollback clause in the contracts. Either way, no one is asking to spend the money on things other than educator compensation. Rather, they could have put aside the $3 million to ensure no educators get laid off next year.

Voters remember what the district says right now, from the board report:
"History indicates that MVWSD will not feel the true impact of COVID-19 for a few years due our basic aid status." [sic/words quoted exactly]
Web Link

However, from around the state:
"Property tax relief [suspending property tax] announced as coronavirus hits California budgets"
Web Link

This historical move will make the idea that the county will hold MVWSD's portion of property tax harmless overly idealistic.

"The coming storm: big budget cuts, rising costs for California schools"
Web Link

This means that state categorical funding for MVWSD will be cut and likely cut larger than revenue limit districts under the fair share principle for basic aid (property tax) districts.

Want to honor teachers in our crisis, let educators know via strong planning that they don't need to worry about their job security. Provide long term zero-interest loans to both classified and certificated educators facing a family fiscal crisis. Bring teachers into the planning process for the fall, given that they are the ones who will implement it and bear the risks. Teachers should be at the table of plans that directly impact their safety. And when the crisis is over, give them the full raises they deserve and more.

Now the question is what sweet deal will the Board give the superintendent this year. Last year he got 10% plus district-paid health benefits (and he has the most expensive plan) while the rest of the staff only got a small percentage and has to pay a portion of their health benefits Seems like someone who is making almost $300K per year would be able to pay for his own benefits. The Board is enamored with him despite his many flaws and seems to always give him preferential treatment.