Dupin to another district. Um and we are so excited to have Dr. Pombo stepping into his shoes. They needed time to work on transition to ensure that we didn't miss any steps. The problem is they were our two key leads for our learning walks. So if we wanted we had a really tough conversation about well we need to do that but then how do we continue the learning learning walks? And what would have been easy if we didn't have the adult convenience mindset would have been to say, well, I guess we just don't worry about the learning walks for the rest of the year. Instead, we have severely inconvenienced Dr. Burgess and Emily Wazol because we basically reassigned their tasks to two very busy people who each have a minimum of two jobs, if not more already. And so, you know, we really did set aside adult convenience to ensure that this work continues as well.
So that isn't just about the adult convenience of what's happening in the classroom. It really is intended to be vertically articulated throughout the entire system. Um, and given the late hour tonight, I would say the board is also indulging and not enjoying adult convenience this evening as we're approaching 9:00 as we have this conversation. And there's a learning walk at MAC and tomorrow morning at 7:45. So Dr. Burgess, she's and there's one on Mon Monday at at Gateway, too, right? I've signed up for that one. Yeah. So, and granted, uh, we don't get paid overtime, right? We don't get paid at all. Thank you for that. The only other thing that I'm going to add is that whenever, at least I I'll speak for myself. I can't speak for everybody asking questions. It's never in an intent of this is a good or bad thing.
This was you're a good person, bad. It literally is coming from a place of understanding and how we're getting the institution to actually implement these type of strategies. So we're not recurring and getting back in the same that we are. So I just wanted to clarify that it's never a you're a bad person. It's I I'm just trying to understand the strategies behind it and how we're aligning everything together into systems because part of the issue is that we didn't have some systems set in place. All right. Any other questions or comments on SOG guardrail 4? All right.
Hearing none, I will make the motion and I move the governing board approve crane SOFG guardrail 4 progress monitoring report two. Second. All those in favor? I. Any nays? Hearing none. Progress monitoring report guardrail 4 passes. And that brings us to public comments. Um I will be calling your name and then I'll be naming the next person next. So, you're just ready and everybody will have two minutes to speak. The first public comment that we have is Monty Gibson and I apologize in advance if I butcher any names. I'm sorry. All right, let me test this out. All right. Um, hi everyone. I'm Miy Gibson. Some of you may know me, some of you may not. I'm a first year teacher and first year in Kraton. Um I'm here today talking about like with respect to teacher wellness and like with respect to teacher uh continual raise.
Um I just want to focus on a broad goal. I don't know what term it ties to, but like I've heard it talked about in our meetings a lot. I love it. adult behaviors or student outcomes don't change until adult behaviors do. Um, and I think that in order to te for teachers to be able to do that, we have to be in a healthy place physically, mental, especially mentally, right? And when we are especially, we mentioned earlier there's a lot of young teachers in the district. When we are struggling financially, it becomes more difficult for us to take care of our mental health to be a positive adult, an effective teacher in the classroom. Um, like teacher burnout here everywhere is real. The self-care is critical and it becomes more difficult when you're just really trying to get by. Um, and as well as like teachers leave in the middle of the year.
That's really bad for students. The lack of consistency very negative for student outcomes. Um, that's just kind of my general idea. To share a specific example, and this is not like just me. There's other young teachers with similar things. There was a thing in January where my car broke down and I was walking busing, you know, like four miles to Gateway each day, right? Like to get there to work and I was getting up at like 5:00 a.m. Whatever. That's fine. I'm I'm there for the students. I haven't missed a single day of work all year. Um, what was difficult was food. I don't know if should I stop? Yeah, Mr. Gibson, your time is up. Thank you. To end, I had to eat oats and salsa. That's all I had left for a day. Ariel Williams is next. And after Ariel, it would be Kelly Blakesley.
I'm sorry. You choose. Oh, okay. Um, good evening, governing board members. Two parts, but I said she can choose whichever one you want to do first. Okay. Is it on two different agenda items? Mhm. Okay. Um, good. Good evening, Gummy Board members. My name is Arya Williams. I have had the privilege of serving as a teacher in the Cranon district for over a decade. Oh, God. Lord. I am addressing you today to express my concerns regarding recent changes made to the 2526 teacher contracts um which was implemented without prior input from teachers or adequate notice. Specifically, I would like to highlight paragraph 9 which states that base salary of a teacher may be reduced up to 10% under under certain conditions. That is an 8% increase to both the teacher and administrator contract of salary reduction compared to the 2425 school year. I find that troubling that the contract contains a 10% clause for potential salary reduction for teachers when we already underpaid.
However, is because of the administrator contract that I'm standing here before you tonight. Clause C3 and administrative contract states that if additional revenues came available, sorry, um the district became available to the district, administrators may receive a raise or a one-time stipen for of up to 20% of their salary at the discretion of the governing board. That represent a 10% increase over the previous year contract, which was 10% in the 2425 school year. As an educator, I find these changes both discouraging and concerning, particularly given the significant disparity and potential salary increase for administrators versus the potential salary reduction for teachers. I respectfully ask why is there a clause allowing for a 20% increase in administrator salaries or onetime stipen in the same year that there is potential for a salary reduction for the teachers. the increase from 2% to 10%. Did you want to give your public comment on the Since you're already here, I'm not going to make you come back up.
Yes. For teacher support. Okay. Go ahead. Um I am here today to address a sentiment I have heard circulating about teacher compensation particularly the argument that raises should not be given. And this is not coming from you guys. This is previous conversations. That's why I have different people. um particular argument that races should not be given because student achievement has not improved or that we should limit raises and stipens to to prevent encouraging bad teachers from staying in the district. I want to make it clear bad teachers will stay in Kraton regardless of the salary increases. The issue is in pay if the lack of expectation and support from the administration. The truth is good teachers those who are truly committed to their students can go anywhere. They are highly sought after and competitive salaries are key to retaining them. Yet Kraton has created a structure where administrative salaries remain relatively competitive while teacher salaries fall behind.
This imbalance threatens to drive away the very educators who contribute to student success and leave behind only the bad teachers. Over the past three years, I have learned a critical lesson. Bad teachers will only do what they can get away with. The real issue lies with administration. It is the leadership that creates or tolerates bad teaching by allowing low expectation and failing to provide adequate support or intervention when necessary. It is especially tr troubling when administrators choose not to enforce the small things believing they must reserve their energy for the big issues. However, it's the small things, the day-to-day moments of accountability, the lack of consistent support that builds into larger systematic problems. When we fail to address the small issues, they escalate into much bigger problems that ultimately impact our students and the quality of education we offer. Good teachers need to feel supported, value, and adequately compensated for their hard work.
And while salary is not the sole motivator, fair and competitive compensation is essential for retention and morale. With that in mind, oh thank you, Miss Williams. Appreciate it. Thank you. Um after Miss Blakesley, we'll have Jacob Hunt. Good evening, Madam President, members of the board, community members at large. My name is Kelly Blakesley. the current uh president of the Kraton Education Association and the manager of the Kraton Family Resource Center. Tonight, I'm speaking on behalf of the union, many of whom are present here tonight. Thank you for sticking it out when we all should be brushing our teeth at this moment. Uh and um to show our support of our union and of our board adopted meet and confer process. Some re recent comments have been made and I do appreciate the comments that were made uh at the start of tonight's board meeting. However, uh some comments have been made that gave us some pause that um encouraged us to speak out here tonight.
While we appreciate the board's new direction in focusing and making specific academic gains through the SOFG work, we must not discount the context and working environment of the boots on the ground humans that work tirelessly every day to do the work that they do. Unfortunately, our workforce is decreasing. This past year, we lost 33% of our certified staff. That's the highest rate of the past 10 years that I've been in the district. Um because of the rate of inflation and other factors outside of our control, we will likely lose another large chunk of our workforce this year as other districts as well. We know that our budget is tight and due to those outside factors that are out of our control. However, if we don't invest even the small 2% raise that's proposed, we have serious concerns about who will even be available to take on these outlined goals of the SOFG.
Providing a 2% raise to our staff will go a long way in helping to retain some of our hardworking employees. Historically, it was this board that spoke out in favor and expressed uh their advocacy for the need for advocacy for teachers to speak their truths and to tell their stories. And we are now asking this board to again stand with us and to align and to support our hard work in the meet and confer process and improving approving the proposed recommendations which we work hard to improve in the meet and confer team. uh teacher working conditions are student learning conditions. It has been said the statement highlights that teachers uh and staff's professional environment significantly appreciate to uh improve their working. Thank you. After Mr. Hunt, we will have Phoenix Haynes. All right.
Good evening members of the board. My name is Jacob Hunt and I teach English language arts as well as structured English immersion uh to middle schoolers here in this district. Um I stand here before you tonight like because I like so many of my colleagues behind me um are already struggling to survive on the salary that this district and this board provides um we're now hearing that teachers may receive a 0% raise this year which is a pay cut when you factor in things like inflation. Have you seen the cost of eggs right now? Um, having to just make do with $ 15 to $20 at the grocery store every week, especially for those who hold our youth's hearts in their hands, is wrong. Um, many teachers in this district donate blood to afford rent. Some even donate their own eggs to make ends meet.
Um, one of my colleagues, a teacher who has a new baby to support, makes less than $900 every two weeks. I made more money as a waiter at Olive Garden and serving 20 hours a week in my undergrad than I do now as a full-time college educator professional. that's shaping the future of this very community. And it's not just about the pay. Our class sizes are already huge, often exceeding 34 students per class. And many of us don't even have enough desks for these kids as is. Now, we're being told that class sizes will be increasing even more, which will be adding around an 18% increase to our workload in some cases. For middle school teachers who are already typically struggling to juggle well over 100 students, the added burden is especially unsustainable. Despite these growing demands and responsibilities, we continue to hear that there's no room in the budget to pay us fairly or provide the resources that we need to do our jobs effectively.
How can we just sit there and accept worse and worse for our students? This district has ambitious goals for its students and its kids and we want to support them because we love our students. But how can we be expected to meet these goals when we're undervalued, overworked, and forced to choose between staying in the classroom or finding a way to pay our bills? Our students deserve stability. They deserve committed, enthused teachers who aren't constantly looking for ways to just survive. Thank you, Mr. Hun. Without investment in the people making this district's vision a reality, we're going to lose. Thank you. Thank you. After Phoenix Hannes, we have Paula Wh. My apologies. Hi, my name is Phoenix Haynes. I'm a first year teacher uh in general, but also obviously first year in this district. I'm kind of giving a personal testimony about being um a person who is a teacher who is also open as a trans person to my students.
Um other districts including Poria, Scottsdale, and Mesa have um been taking advantage of the current new administration's attack on trans people to change their policies to exclude trans staff and students um and implement policies such as forced outing, preventing students and staff from using the correct bathroom, and also using preventing staff members from using students correct pronouns. Um, it is for reason like these that I was extremely committed to moving to Minnesota next year. That's a a trans safe haven state. I actually took this job at Monav Vista only intending to stay for one year to allow myself to build up savings and move to Minnesota. Um, because they not only don't legislate against trans people, but they actually legislate to protect them. Um, it's only because of the immense support, honesty, and communication that I've experienced from my admin team at Monav Vista, as well as from Dr.
Lauren in HR that I've made a decision to not only stay in the state, but at this school specifically. Um, and it's because I feel my concerns have been heard and that I've been reassured that your board policy will protect me in my ability to be honest about who I am when I teach. And I just wanted to say thank you. uh and that I felt the need to come say this and say this to the school board because I don't know if you guys are aware of how serious the attacks against trans people are over the US right now. But I can see um from how you all have been keeping in touch with schools about immigration related issues that you really care about your students and staff uh safety. And I know that I'm not the only trans teacher in your district. And I know that it would mean the world to all of your trans students and staff and prospective employees that if the board or the superintendent could make a statement saying that they see these attacks happening in schools on trans people and that Kraton is a place where that where that will not happen and that your students and staff are safe to be who they are and be accepted.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. I planned for three minutes because that's what I thought it was. So, I'm going to talk really super fast. Go. Hi. We'll assume, right? Go. Okay. My name is Paula Hoon and I am a fifth grade teacher at Monav Vista. Originally, I was planning to speak about the issue of phrases and the importance of taking care of teachers. However, as just as an important a just as important issue has come to my attention, and that is the reduction of home room teachers by 3 to five per site. While the reduction may help the budget in the short run, my concern is a snowball effect that will directly impact our students. And I would be remiss in my duties as a thorn in your side a 16-year educator if I didn't share my concerns with the board and the community.
The effect of the district decreasing the number of teachers and increasing the number of students per classroom will be catastrophic to our most valuable assets, our students. The board discusses at length about what is best for our students, the SOFG, which are um proudly displayed over there. Um how do you expect us to get to those to reach those goals with fewer teachers and less students in the classroom? Currently, Monavista has three fifth grade teachers with a total of 65 or excuse me, 63 students. However, the incoming fifth graders for the 2526 school year at Monav Vista will be in the neighborhood of 75 students. Allow me to do the math for you. 75 students for two teachers makes rosters of 37 or 38. How much teaching will actually take place versus the reality of crowd control? We currently know as a classroom management will become crowd cloud crowd control crowd control in a classroom with less than 700 occupiable square feet.