Dear HTH Families and Community:

The respective collective bargaining teams for High Tech High (HTH) and High Tech Education Collective (HTEC) met Thursday, June 29, 2022, for a full day of negotiations. Although a completed Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) was not reached, HTH is pleased to report that both parties passed a substantial package that includes almost every contract item.

Stronger Compensation Package
HTH’s package would significantly strengthen teachers’ compensation overall, provide job stability and assurance for our teachers, and maintain HTH’s commitment to innovation and equity for our students. We feel strongly that our proposals have incorporated the feedback from our community and HTEC to develop a package that is sustainable, competitive, and equitable.

Specifically, both parties have come close to reaching an agreement on a significant salary boost for all teachers for the next school year. In addition, HTH has proposed a retention incentive, consisting of a $2,000 one-time payment for full-time educators who worked during the 2021-22 school year. The retention bonus would be paid to teachers returning for the 22-23 school year. Based on initial feedback from HTEC, HTH is exploring ways to ensure the incentive honors teachers with longevity at HTH as well.

Moving Away from “At-Will” Employment
We have proposed foregoing our traditional year-to-year contracts and “at-will employment” status. Instead, we have offered to develop structures to support teachers in the growth and development of their practice and structures to address any matters related to teacher misconduct should the issue arise. After an initial “Introductory Period,” teachers would transition to an “Established” status with a continued expectation of employment unless there are performance or misconduct issues. This proposal provides a number of enhanced benefits for teachers and staff members alike.

The development of a CBA is new to HTH, but we’re making significant progress on a range of items such as wages, discipline, employment status, leaves, benefits, class size/caseloads, and more. We remain committed to our unique way of learning, supporting our teachers and staff members, and delivering what our community expects for our students.

HTH has proposed to the union an additional bargaining session for July.

More soon,
Interim Chief Executive Officer Dr. Kaleb Rashad
Board Chair Gary E. Jacobs