Charlottesville teachers win collective bargaining rights
Charlottesville City Schools employees now have collective bargaining rights—and soon, Albemarle County Public Schools staff may too.
On March 2, the Charlottesville School Board unanimously approved a collective bargaining resolution, after almost a year of negotiations between the Charlottesville Education Association and the board. In a 5-2 vote, the Albemarle County School Board directed Superintendent Matt Haas and staff to draft a collective bargaining resolution during a budget work session that same evening. Board members Jonno Alcaro and Kate Acuff voted against the measure.
“We look forward to the resolution and the continued work we’ll do in partnership with our teachers,” said ACPS board chair Katrina Callsen following the vote.
Charlottesville is the fourth school division in Virginia to allow its employees to unionize, joining Richmond, Arlington, and Prince William County. The new resolution features two bargaining units: one for licensed school staff, such as teachers and librarians, and another for school support professionals, such as cafeteria workers and custodians. (Administrative employees are excluded from bargaining.) These two units can choose two topics to negotiate during the contract’s three year span, including wages, benefits, discipline procedures, and health and safety conditions. The agreement requires funding from the city, but the school division has not yet determined how much it will cost.
“This is a historic moment,” said city school board member Lisa Larson-Torres during the board’s meeting. “Our staff are the backbone of our schools, and we want to amplify their voices, their needs, and their expertise. This resolution signals and affirms that we want to support and retain our outstanding staff.”
“It’s a win-win for our teachers and students,” added school board chair James Bryant.
However, the Albemarle Education Association has claimed teachers are being left out of the drafting process, and called on the board to pass a new motion specifically including the union.
“We are concerned that there is no explicit requirement for the AEA to be included in a collaborative process or for the end goal to be a mutually agreed upon resolution,” AEA Vice President Mary McIntyre told The Daily Progress. “Around the state, when workers were shut out of the development process, weak resolutions have been the result,” she said.
Callsen has refuted these claims. “I know it will be done in collaboration with the AEA,” she told the Progress.
After the county school board voted against moving forward with collective bargaining in May—citing a lack of state guidance on the process—the AEA presented a second resolution to the board last month, with the support of roughly 1,300 ACPS employees.
The county expects to finish drafting the resolution this summer.
UVA wins share of ACC regular-season title
The University of Virginia men’s basketball team beat Louisville 75-60 on March 4, earning the Cavs a share of the 2023 ACC regular-season title.
As the No. 2 seed, UVA gets a double-bye into the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament, and will play on March 9 at 7pm against the winner of the second-round game between No. 7 North Carolina and either No. 10 Boston College or No. 15 Louisville.
The Cavaliers have won the ACC regular season title six times in the last 10 seasons. The team is looking to win its fourth ACC tournament championship, and its first since 2018.
In brief
Running again
Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook and Councilor Michael Payne are running for re-election.
Affordable housing, transportation, education, public safety, and climate action are among Payne’s top priorities, according to a March 1 press release. During a February 28 campaign announcement on the Downtown Mall, Snook also promised to continue to work on affordable housing, climate change, and school reconstruction projects.
Sorry, not sorry
University of Virginia Board of Visitors member Bert Ellis apologized to his colleagues during a March 3 board meeting for a series of controversial text messages published by The Washington Post—but refused to apologize to the students he targeted. In over 20 pages of texts between Ellis and other board members and UVA officials, Ellis called UVA Student Council members and Cavalier Daily staffers “numnuts,” criticized high-level UVA officials, and railed against “woke” culture and diversity, equity, and inclusion reforms at the school. “This is going to be a battle royale for the soul of UVA. … We need to build this into a big Army to fight agst [sic] the UVA Adm [sic],” Ellis wrote. “I have learned my lesson about FOIA … I can’t put the genie back in the bottle, so all I can say is I’m sorry,” Ellis told the board last week. When asked if he would apologize to students, he said, “No, that was fine,” reports The Daily Progress. Richmond-based author Jeff Thomas, who requested the texts under the Freedom of Information Act last August, sued the university for withholding the texts in September, and won the injunction last month.
