The Woodland Joint Unified School District and the Woodland Education Association have reached a contract agreement for the 2024/25 school year that includes pay raises and other improvements.

During Tuesday’s school board meeting, WJUSD Trustees voted 5-to-1 to approve the agreement between the district and educators, settling negotiations for the current school year. Board President Rogelio Villagrana voted no due to concerns over the district’s future budget deficits.

“Right now, we have a structure deficit for 2024/25 of 2.8 million,” Villigrana stated as he read from a district document showing the financial impact on the district’s operating budget that the teacher raises would have. “In 2025/26, based on the current budget structure that we have, the allocations that we have is going to be $4.1 million without any changes to our budget. What this document is showing is that we will go to $5 million by adding the pay. So again, we have to now find additional cuts to make to cover it, and again, we have said this since the beginning.

“Because of that, I am not able to support the agreement. I need to know where the money is coming from to be able to do this. I am not comfortable having the district continue to be in deficit spending… I just want everyone to understand why I am voting the way I am voting. I am being consistent with my values of being a trustee and overseeing our budget and resources. I know we are going to have to make tough decisions, but those decisions have not been made yet.“With this vote, the deficit will increase to, according to this form, $5 million. In subsequent years it shows it will increase to $6.39 million on top of that. By the year 2025/26, we have to cut or adjust our spending by $6.4 million. That very likely means positions because we can’t cut that much money from our budget without impacting individuals, so again, because of that, I cannot right now support it.”

The agreement includes a 3% salary increase effective July 1, 2024, and a one-time $5,000 payment, according to a press release from the district.

“Recruiting and retaining talented teachers is important to ensuring our students have the support they need to be successful,” stated WJUSD Superintendent Elodia Ortega-Lampkin. “We deeply appreciate all that our teachers do, and we are committed to supporting them every step of the way. We always appreciate and value the partnership with our teachers to develop agreements that support our students.”

Villagrana stated that the district will continue to seek ways to fund the new agreement amid challenging budgeting times for public education.

“In order to honor the new contract agreement with our teachers, we will need to make some necessary budget adjustments in the future,” he stated. “While making adjustments is challenging, it is a reflection of our commitment to fairly compensate our teachers for the vital work they do, while supporting the sustainability of our district and the success of our students.”

According to a WJUSD press release, highlights of the agreement include:

Employee benefits contribution increased to $9,960 annually for employee-only medical coverage and $12,000 annually for Employee +1 or Family medical coverage.

Five Professional Development Days in the 2025-2026 school year.

Additional collaboration time for Professional Learning Communities.

Stipends for Dual Immersion, Special Education, Combination class teachers, and Mariachi Production in the 2024-2025 school year.

Release days for Special Education teachers to prepare Individualized Education Plan (IEP) documents and related reports.

One-year extensions for increased pay rates for secondary teachers who substitute during their prep and for elementary English Learner Specialists who substitute in a classroom.

One-year extension for payments to elementary teachers who may miss their prep due to the unavailability of a release teacher.