Clovis Unified school employees form district’s first-ever union for certified educators
In what they called a “historic vote,” Clovis Unified school psychologists and mental health support professionals will now be represented by a union following a vote Friday.
“In the last large school district in the state where educators are not part of a union, school psychologists and mental health support providers (MHSPs) have just made history by voting to join the Association of Clovis Educators,” ACE union officials said in a news release. The group is backed by the California Teachers Association and National Education Association.
The Public Employment Relations Board announced the vote at their Sacramento headquarters on Friday.
Forty-nine of the 71 voters, or 69 percent, voted for the ACE union, while 16 voters, or 23 percent, voted for a competing union. Only six voters, or 7 percent, voted for no union. Eighty-one school psychologists were eligible to vote.
“Today, we can say what we’ve long known: that Clovis can still be Clovis while also being a union district. We are thrilled with today’s vote,” said Kristin Heimerdinger, a Buchanan High School teacher and ACE spokesperson, in the press release.
District leaders responded to the news of the vote on Friday afternoon.
“Absent any objections by the parties to the results, PERB will certify the outcome and this group will become the exclusive representative of the District’s school psychologists and mental health support providers in work-related matters,” said Kelly Avants, district spokesperson, in an email statement to The Bee.
“We appreciate, respect and support the work of every one of our 7,000 employees, including our psychologists and mental health professionals,” said Associate Superintendent of Human Resources and Employee Relations Barry Jager.
“We have worked specifically with this group in recent years to increase staffing and add services to best support our students and remain committed to our district’s long history of valuing the voices of our employees and working with their representative groups for the benefit of our students,” Jager said.
The vote comes after a “supermajority” of about 75% of the district’s psychologists signed the petition to form a union in June 2021.
School mental health professionals said the coronavirus pandemic revealed how critical mental health services are for students returning to school, and many educators said they felt excluded from the decision-making process during the coronavirus pandemic.
Will teachers be next?
The vote marks a victory for ACE’s efforts to unionize all educators at Clovis Unified, which is the largest district in the state without a teachers union.
“This definitely is the first step in expanding that meaningful representation to all certificated staff in the district,” said Heimerdinger in an interview with The Bee on Friday afternoon.
In April 2021, Clovis teachers, psychologists, counselors, and other educators announced the formation of the Association of Clovis Educators, a group pushing to unionize the school district.
Pro-union Clovis educators have filed multiple unfair labor practice charges with the Public Employment Relations Board related to what they say are illegal, anti-union actions by the district.
“We continue to do the work to earn the support of as many of our colleagues as we can possibly earn the support from, but unfortunately, the district’s illegal behavior has been an impediment to those efforts,” Heimerdinger said in an interview with The Bee on Friday.
“We disagree with Ms. Heimerdinger’s allegations and are thoroughly responding through the PERB hearing process,” Avants responded Friday. “We have, and will continue to support and value every one of our employees and their incredible work on behalf of the district for the benefit of our students.”
That labor complaint is still pending, with a hearing scheduled for Feb. 10.
What’s next for the unionized staff?
The school psychologists already have an elected bargaining team and have conducted a comprehensive survey of psychologists and MHSPs.
Clovis school psychologists and mental health support staff plan to negotiate a union contract to help with recruitment and retention, improve transparency and ensure they are part of decisions that impact their students and professions, according to a press release on the vote.
“Clovis school psychologists are an incredibly capable and dedicated group of educators. Our Clovis school community and students need our strong voices at the table,” said Tamara Soemali, a school psychologist and lead organizer who has been with the Clovis Unified School District for 25 years.
Negotiations with the district for a first contract are expected to begin soon.
This story was originally published February 4, 2022 at 1:15 PM.
