There are several issues that need to be resolved between Rio Rancho Public Schools employees and district officials.

Rio Rancho School Employees Union President Peggy Stielow addressed the school board earlier this month, listing several grievances. Some grievances include employee rights being ignored, federal wage laws not being honored, stipends eliminated and what union members perceive as a lack of respect.

Stielow also said employees are concerned about any potential layoffs because of the $4 million budget shortfall.

“Our expertise has been ignored, our opinions discouraged and disregarded,” Stielow said. “Professional courtesy has eroded.”

The union, which includes teachers, custodians and educational assistants, is without a current contract. The union’s contract expired on June 30 and a new contract has yet to be approved. Therefore, the union is operating under its previous contract. Teachers were due a two-percent raise from the state, but because a new contract has yet to be approved, the employees did not get the raise.

Stielow said negotiations have gone nowhere as the district would rather discuss ground rules than negotiate.

District spokesperson Kim Vesely responded by e-mail with the district administration’s response.

“It is not our practice to negotiate through the media. Each of these issues is a subject of current negotiations or is a confidential personnel issue,” the e-mail said.“We are not going to comment on personnel issues or items under negotiation that are being discussed in closed session and are supposed to be confidential. We are sorry that RRSEU has chosen not to respect the Collective Bargaining Agreement we have made governing the confidentiality of the process.”

Roughly 40 percent of the district’s teachers belong to the union and Stielow said their rights have been ignored. A specific example she mentioned is when a teacher was escorted to her principal’s office and interrogated for more than two hours over something she said regarding working conditions and perceived lack of respect. The teacher’s Weingarten Rights (which allows an employee to have a union representative with them in the interrogation process) were violated, according to Stielow.

“Obviously, there are differences of opinion between the district and the union,” an e-mail from the district read. “To comment on them would be to break confidentiality and would not advance good faith bargaining. However, the district is of the opinion that employee rights under federal law, the current negotiated agreement and employee contracts have not been violated by the district.”

Stielow also claimed wage laws are not being honored. She said educational assistants, who are paid hourly, have been told to stay and work beyond the school day without pay.

Bernadette Hudson, the vice-president of the educational assistant wing of the union, has been through tough times before with the district. She was there when the district first started in 1994.

“I worked on the committee to hire Dr. (Sue) Cleveland and I have been here since then. It was tough. We didn’t have anything, but we made sure it would be fine,” Hudson said. “Now, the administration is not as cooperative as they were in the beginning. The respect and camaraderie that we had for each other that pulled us through has been forgotten.”

In September, the district’s finance director Randy Evans said stipends must be cut by $160,772.

District officials say the issues of salaries and stipends, including what stipends may be cut, are still under negotiation. 

“We would emphasize that all employees will be paid for authorized time worked and this includes stipends for extra work performed beyond the employee’s job duties,” the district’s e-mail read. “Under state law, as well as the negotiated agreement currently in force, the district reserves the right to assign work responsibilities including assignment of future work responsibilities. If it appears that budgetary constraints, organizational efficiencies or programing decisions result in a reduction of extra assignments, those employees who currently receive stipends for extra work will not be required to perform additional duties without compensation.”     

RRSEU Secretary Kathryn Mondragon teaches chemistry at Rio Rancho High School and is the subject’s content director. She said she was promised a stipend for her extra work. She said her duties, in addition to teaching, include training new teachers and cataloguing chemicals. The extra time she spends helping the school ranges from eight to 20 hours. She says her stipend has been cut.

“I love how they guilt us into doing extra work and we’re not paid for it,” she said. “They say we should act professional. There is no respect. They are paranoid that teachers aren’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing.”

Union member Jewel Pierce, who teaches at Mountain View Middle School, concurs that there is a lack of respect. She says that union members are treated with disdain by the administration.

“This is the only district I have taught in where I feel like I am wearing a scarlet letter because I am a union rep,” Pierce said. “All of my actions are doubted because I am a union member. If the administration is doing the right thing, they should not care who belongs to a union and who does not belong to a union.”

Pierce went to a National Education Association conference in October. She said it was for professional development and that expenses should have been covered by the district. However, the district deemed it a union event, according to Pierce. Therefore pay was denied.

Union secretary Stephanie Biondo-ly said the district can get through the challenging times but it will take a cooperative effort.

“We can get through the budget problems and all the difficulties, but we need to come together and everyone truly work in the best interest of the children,” she said.

There are three school board positions up for grabs in February and the union says it is pondering several potential candidates for the board.

District officials say they want to lose as few positions as possible.

“In these difficult times, with the district facing a substantial financial shortfall, the district’s objective is to save as many employee jobs as possible,” the e-mail read. “The district hopes for a productive and timely resolution to contract talks that preserves jobs and limits the impact on the classroom.”