Teacher Talks Failing

The West Contra Costa School Board meeting on Sept. 24, 2025

This story was updated on Sept. 27.

More than 200 teachers, parents, students and Teamsters marched outside DeJean Middle School in Richmond and then packed the auditorium for the school board meeting on Wednesday (Sept. 24). They chanted “Fair contract now” and “We’re going to strike” for about 25 minutes before the meeting began.

Teachers have been working with an expired contract since June. Negotiations have been going on for months. Recently an impasse was declared and a mediation session was held. However, a teacher who attended said the district’s negotiating team was “unprepared and dishonest.” Another mediation session is scheduled for Sept. 30.

If mediation fails the next step would be statutory impasse procedures, also called fact finding. Both sides would bring documentation of their positions to an independent judge, who might see ways in which negotiations could advance.

“It could be a relatively quick process because I expect the district will repeat what they’ve said before,” one teacher said. “To move forward, they need to look for a way to get closer to us.”

The teacher said he thinks the chances of a strike are 85% to 90%. He believes parents, students and the community will support teachers if that happens.

"Parents say, 'Teachers are my favorite part of the school. I am not worried about support because we live in a place where people know what we do and they know we're not being greedy. My rent just went up 10 percent. I am not living lavishly. "

Superintendent Cheryl Cotton responded Sept. 26 to comments made at the school board meeting.

She emailed, "“We continue to meet with union representatives to address challenges and issues that arise. We are committed to good-faith bargaining, and we value every member of our West Contra Costa family. As we navigate these challenging times, it is important to remember that we are one West Contra Costa.”

Understaffed and Underpaid

There are currently 70 teacher vacancies in the district, according to the United Teachers of Richmond (UTR). This undermines the quality of students’ education and puts an extra burden on teachers and support staff, teachers said.

The district has consistently offered a 0% salary increase and that’s not acceptable, teachers said. The administration and teachers are also far apart on class sizes and special education, including speech and language therapy.

Speech Therapy Not Adequate

During public comment at the board meeting, speech therapists said the district is not hiring enough of them and consequently, is shuffling personnel around and pushing older students who are entitled to speech services into virtual sessions that often do not meet their needs.

Priscilla Lau, a speech therapist at Harding Elementary, said inadequate staffing can lead to denying services to which students are entitled. She said students deserve more than “overfilled groups, overworked staff, and constant disruption.”

Francisco Ortiz, the president of United Teachers of Richmond and a parent, said his four-year-old son has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for speech, but has received no speech services at all this year. Ortiz said he learned that qualified students in TK (Transitional Kindergarten) at Washington and Grant schools have received no speech services this year.

“This is a result of deliberate choices to understaff,” Ortiz said. “We need fully staffed schools that deliver services.”

Large Class Sizes, Long-Term Subs

El Cerrito High teachers said class sizes are too large and staffing to meet student needs is a problem – a problem that falls on teachers who try to pick up the slack. Most classes there have 35 and 36 students, while P.E. classes have 51.

Eric Jepson said the district has “long-term sub after long-term sub” along with some of the largest class sizes in the U.S. He said the starting salary here is $10,000 lower than in nearby districts.

Poor Communication

Sky Nelson, a parent and teacher at El Cerrito High, gave examples of staffing problems that were made more difficult to deal with because teachers were not told what was going on. For instance, a registrar was promoted and it took time for a replacement to be found. Nelson learned of the problem when he found a student crying in the hallway. The student’s ID number had been lost, causing a lot of confusion.

Nelson said teachers deserve more transparency and better communication.

“Trust us,” he said.

Salaries Don't Meet Needs

Teachers also said that salary matters.

Colleen Ballantine said the district’s revenue has increased 34.4% over the past six years, while her earnings as a teacher increased 16.5%, with some of that requiring extra work.

“I cannot sugar coat that this sucks,” she said.

Ballantine said her daughter left a classroom support position with the district where she earned about $18 an hour and found two other positions with private agencies. One pays $28 an hour and the other $38 an hour. Conditions like that lead to a revolving door for district employees, she said.

Channelle Jose, a special education teacher, said: “You have this amazing team of people who decided to come back to the community where they grew up. I am 31 years old and I live with my parents because otherwise I cannot afford to live in the community.”

Gina McLean said schools are being affected by the elimination of vacant teaching positions last year.

She said it’s fair for teachers to expect a modest salary increase, reasonable class sizes, and conditions where classrooms are not consistently overheated.

A Student Viewpoint

Elias Avalos, a senior at Kennedy High School, said growing up in Richmond has taught him that “nothing here is guaranteed. Not the programs, certainly not the teachers.

“We are students and we care. We want to thrive. Work with us. Do not dictate. Come to our schools. Get to know us. When you cut our teachers, you cut our programs, you send a message that you do not want us to thrive.”

Vista Virtual School

The board also received several comments from parents and teachers at Vista Virtual School, which had its funding cut by the district last year. The comments asking for more support for the online school came after a teacher at Vista, Kaitlin Marchesi, was honored as Contra Costa County Teacher of the Year.

Andre Brunetti, a Vista teacher, asked the board and superintendent to work out a plan to make it mandatory for chronically absent students to enroll in the virtual school. That could increase revenue from student attendance and could also provide a refuge from ICE, he said.

Brunetti said he appreciated the listening sessions that Superintendent Cheryl Cotton held recently at five locations around the district.

“Be an ally of the staff,” Brunetti said. “We should be on the same team.”

Board President Leslie Reckler said before the meeting that board members usually do not respond to public comments.

District Public Meetings on Finances

Earlier this month, Superintendent Cotton presented a 90-day fiscal stabilization plan which she described as a roadmap to engage the community in long-term financial planning.

On Sept. 15, WCCUSD began offering a series of 90-minute talks on different aspects of fiscal stabilization. These are being offered at libraries in El Cerrito, Richmond, and Hercules high schools. The schedule can be found here.

Last year at public meetings, Acting Superintendent Kim Moses said millions of dollars in cuts were needed to keep the district from being taken over by the state. The local teachers’ union along with the California Teachers Association challenged the accuracy of the district’s figures. They also said the district prioritizes consultants over employees.

Parcel Tax Renewal Coming on 2026 Ballot

Meanwhile, the district is preparing to put a parcel tax renewal on the ballot in June or November 2026. The current parcel tax, first passed in 2004, expires June 30, 2027. The tax brings in $10 million a year for “extra” programs like sports and libraries. It’s not used for teacher salaries and benefits.

Unlike bond issues for construction, it would require a two-thirds majority to pass.

The first meeting of a district budget engagement committee is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 30 in the DeJean Middle School library.