The union wants to protect existing board policy on setting thermostats between 68 and 72 degrees, Glendale Teacher’s Assn. President Tami Carlson said.
“If there would be a new board policy a year or two from now, a policy change to those parameters, it can be 30, 35 students in a classroom with 100 degrees outside and thermostat says 75, but that 75 is actually 88 [degrees], and no learning can take place,” she said during a Tuesday meeting of the Glendale Unified School District Board of Education.
District officials want school to begin mid-August to allow the fall semester to end without the interruption of a long vacation, as the calendar stands now. The existing calendar leaves about a month between winter break and final exams. Beginning school early also grants Advance Placement high school students more time to prepare for the college-level tests in the spring.
“We say we’re on the cutting edge, but they’re doing that right now in Burbank, and they have had great success,” Supt. Michael Escalante said.
Assistant Supt. John Garcia, who has been involved in negotiations, said he has heard similar concerns from parents.
“What I try to help people understand is the chronology,” he said. “We were finally able to get to the bargaining table on Nov. 30, and the calendar was presented to the teachers association. We have had, I think, three sessions since, and obviously the calendar’s on the proposal that’s gone back and forth.”
The lack of a firm date so far into the second semester has upset parents and employees who make summer plans well in advance.
