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TeachersAgreementReachedSchoolOpensSeptember6thThislettertoourfamiliesandcommunitiesoutlinessomeofthechangesthatwillaffectstudents.

LastspringthelegislaturemadedramaticcutstostatefundingthathaveimpactedMarysville. Nineteenelementarypositionswere

eliminatednearlytwoteachersperbuilding. Asaresult,classsizeswillrisedramatically. Thelegislaturealsoreducedfundingfor

teachersalariesforcing296districtstonegotiatereductionsoverthesummer.

InMarysville,teachersandthedistrictagreedto:

Increaseclassroomsizeswithnoincreaseinclasssizecompensation.

0.9% reductioninpayasmuchas$650forsometeachers.

Furloughtimeforteacherslessworktimeforlesspaysimilartostateemployees.

EarlyReleaseDaysEarlyreleasedayswillmovefromFridaystoWednesdays. Inaddition,thestudentdaywillbelongeronthesedaysthan

inyearspast. Thestudentdaywillbeshortened90minutesinsteadof150minutes. EarlyReleaseDaysalsoknownas

ProfessionalGrowthWednesdaysprovideessentialtimeforteachertraining,reviewofstudentworkandworking

togethertohelpstudentscatchup. Totalinstructionaltimeovercourseoftheyearremainsthesameasithasbeeninpreviousyears.

Boththedistrictandtheteachersassociationfounditverychallengingtoaddresstheobstaclespresentedtousbythestate

legislature.Wemetadozentimesoverthesummer,duringvacationtimeinJuly,andheldmanyalldaysessions. Becauseofthe

relationshipwehavebuiltoverthepastfewyearswewereabletoworkthroughseveraldifficultissues.Thankstogoodwilland

hardworkbyallparties,eachagreedtolessthanwemighthavehoped. Thistentativeagreementwillallowustogetonwiththe

businessofopeningschoolontime. Ourmissionremainsparamount100% everystudent

Proficient

in

literacy

and

math

Graduatingontime

Preparedforsuccessincollege,career,andresponsiblecitizenship

Despitedifficulteconomictimes,welookforwardtoapositiveandproductiveschoolyear.Weareencouragedbyourrecent

graduationresultsourhighesteveratwellover80% aswellasotherareasofgoodnewsaboutourworkonstudent

achievement.

SchoolCalendarandBellSchedule(schoolstartandendtimes)Theschoolcalendarandbellschedulefor20112012isprintedonpagesthreeandfourofthispublication. Thecalendar

outlinesindetail,ProfessionalGrowthWednesdays,nonschooldays(breaksandholidays),conferencedatesandteacher

furloughtime. Thecalendarmayalsobeviewed,downloaded,orprintedfromthedistrictwebsite: www.msvl.k12.wa.us.

SchoolLunchPricesAlthoughnotapartoftheteacherscontract,statebudgetcutsalsoimpactedthecostofschoollunches.Mealpriceswillincreaseby25

centspermealthefirstincreaseinthreeyears.Milkpricesremainunchanged. Chartwells,thefoodserviceproviderinMarysville,

agreedtoa$100,000reductionintheirmanagementfeetoinsurethecontinuationofhealthylunchesonabreakevenbasis.

BusSchedulesBusscheduleswerepublishedintheBacktoSchoolGuideinmidAugust. Theguidewasmailedtoallfamiliesinthedistrictandisalso

availableonthedistrictwebsite(www.msvl.k12.wa.us). ClickHEREtoviewtheguideandbusschedules.

Marysville School District 4220 80th Street NE, Marysville, WA 98270

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MoreDetailontheCollectiveBargainingAgreementbetweentheDistrictandourTeachersDuetostatelegislativeactionlastspringstatefundingforteachersalarieswasreducedby1.9%andclassifiedandadministrativestaffsalarieswerereducedby3%. Thelegislaturedeclinedtoreducetheschoolyearormakeastatewidedecision. Therefore,296

districtsacrossthestatehavehadtonegotiateseparatelywitheachbargainingunithoweachdistrictwouldaddressthe

legislativebudgetcuts. Bargainingreductionsinsalaryhasbeenextremelychallenging. Despitegoodwillandhardworkbyall

parties,weeachinevitablyendupwithlessthanwewouldhope.

SalaryReduction: TheStatelegislaturecutfundingforteachersalariesacrossthestateby1.9%andlefteachdistricttonegotiatewithitsownteacheruniontofigureoutwhatthatwouldlooklike. Alldistrictshavestruggledtofindwaystodealwiththestate

salary

reductions

and

furlough

time.

Several

districts

in

our

region

with

multi

year

contracts,

larger

levies,

or

larger

cash

reserves

havemadeuptheentire1.9%and/orprovidedforpayincreases. InournegotiationswithMEA,teachersalarieswillbereduced

bynearly1%andweagreedtofurloughtimeonmultipledays.

LegislativeLeave:Manyprivateandpublicemployeeshavebeenrequiredtotakefurloughtimelesspayforlesswork. Thestatelegislature,forexample,negotiatedareductioninpayforstateworkersandthenprovidedanequivalentamountoftimeoff. Since

theteacherscontractyearisessentiallythesameasthestudentyear,furloughtimemustcomeduringthestudentschoolyear. As

withotherunions,thesameworkforlesspayisnotanacceptableoption. Inordertotreatteacherssimilarlytostateemployees

weagreedtoseveralexceptionallyshort,twohourschooldaystoprovidefurloughtimeoffforteachers. Fouroftheseshortened

schooldayscomeinconjunctionwithThanksgiving,winterbreak,Presidentsdayweekend,andMemorialDayweekend. Thereare

threeadditionalfurloughtimedays,thefirstonecomingonOctober14th.

InstructionalTimeRemainsUnchanged:Wearerequiredtoprovide1000hoursofinstructionforstudentsandwewillcontinuetodoso.Wewillmaintainthesameamountofinstructionaltimeaswehaveofferedoverthelastseveralyears.

EarlyReleaseDaysMovetoWednesday: Overthelast3years,duetolegislativecuts,wehavelostfundingforprofessionaltrainingdaysforteachers.Manydistrictsarenowusingearlyreleasedaysasawaytoprovidetimetoworkwithstafftocontinue

effortstomoveallstudentstostandard(NCLB). Teachersusethistimetolookatstudentprogress,setgoalsforimprovingstudent

learning,planlessonstogether,andmakeplanstohelpstudentscatchup.Severalchangeshavebeenmadeintheearlyrelease

days. Thestudentdaywillbeshortened90minutesinsteadof150minutes. Thiswillenableusto:

Findtimetodostafftrainingandcontinueourimprovingachievementtrends.

Holdbothsessionsofhalfdaykindergartenonearlyreleasedays(previouslyamorpmKindergartenhadtoalternateonthose

days).

Extendtheamountofinstructionaltimeonearlyreleasedays.

Providemorestudentswiththelunchbeforetheendoftheearlyreleasedays.

Increase

the

consistency

for

families

by

scheduling

early

release

days

more

consistently

on

the

same

day

of

the

week.

ClassSize: DuetolegislativereductionsincludinglargereductionsinK4teachers(19fewerteachersforMarysville),classsizeswillgoupabouttwostudentsperclassattheelementarylevelandonestudentperclassatthesecondarylevel. Teachershaveagreed

totaketheseaddedstudentsatnoincreaseincompensation.

OtherEmployeeGroups: Everyemployeegrouphasworkedwithustomakesimilarreductions. Districtadministratorsaretakingfourfurloughdaysandapaycuttoabsorbthestatereductionsinadministrativepay(3%). Thesuperintendenthastakenavolun

tarypayreductionof3%(nowforthethirdyear).

OtherBudgetReductions: Overthepastseveralyears,thedistricthasreducedthebudgetby$12million. Duringthelastschoolyearwehadtomakedramaticmidyearreductionsduetounprecedentedmidyearcutsfromthestatelegislature. Forthiscoming

year,wehavemadeanother$5millioninbudgetcuts.Withnearly$20millionincutsoverrecentyears,weareallhavingtofind

waystodomorewithless. Increasinglyeachandeverybudgetcuthasanimpact. Therearenoeasybudgetcutslefttomake. And

witheachcut,weeachfeelthepainofgettingbywithless.Weremaincommittedtoourmissionandwearemakinggainsin

studentlearningandgraduationrates.

OurCommitment: Despitethechallengeswehaveoutlinedabove,weremaincommittedtoprovidingastrongcurriculum,asafelearningenvironment,andeffectiveinstructiontohelpallchildren,everychild,yourchildachieve.

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20112012SchoolYearCalendar

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BellSchedule(SchoolStartandEndTimes)