This page is the public record of proposals exchanged between Modesto Teachers Association and Modesto City Schools. Documents are posted as they were exchanged at the table, including each party’s own time stamps. Newest items appear first.
Nothing on this page is a final agreement.
These are proposals and counter-proposals. A proposal becomes binding only when both parties sign a Tentative Agreement and MTA members ratify it. Some documents carry the word “MOU” in their file name because that is the form a proposal is drafted in, it does not mean the item has been agreed to. Read the header and footer of each document: they identify which party wrote it and when.
Elementary Instructional Day Pilot
Status: open. Proposals exchanged July 31, 2026. No agreement has been reached.
MCS has proposed a pilot of an alternate elementary instructional day schedule at up to two elementary sites for the 2026-2027 school year, with planning in fall 2026 and implementation in January 2027. MTA has responded with counter proposals. The two documents differ substantially on how sites are selected, whether members vote, what is paid, and how much of the instructional day is fixed in writing.
MCS Counter-Proposal — July 31, 2026, 8:30 a.m.
The District’s counter-proposal. 28 pages: six pages of proposed MOU terms, followed by sample bell schedules for Franklin, Fairview, and El Vista. Sets minimum daily instructional minutes, a 40-minute “Specials” block model taught by itinerant VAPA and PE teachers, and credentialing pathways for prep providers and CLTs.
Read the MCS counter-proposal (PDF, 28 pages, 1.2 MB)
MTA Proposal — July 31, 2026, 10:30 a.m.
MTA’s proposal, sent later the same day. Three pages. Conditions the pilot on a site vote of at least 65% of teachers voting in support, seeks to maintain current music programs, protects prep providers and CLTs from having to obtain a new credential, and guarantees each prep provider and CLT a dedicated classroom.
Read this one carefully. Several provisions are struck through. Struck text has been withdrawn by MTA and is not part of the proposal, including the $2,500 per semester stipend, the November continue-or-terminate vote, and the two-thirds threshold to continue the pilot. What is not struck through is what MTA is asking for.
Read the MTA proposal (PDF, 3 pages)
Tell the negotiations team where you stand
MTA is surveying members on this pilot and on two other District proposals. Answer the first question and the survey takes you straight to the section that applies to your assignment. Most members answer three or four questions. It takes about two minutes.
This survey is not a vote. It tells the negotiations team where members stand. If a site is ever asked to adopt a pilot schedule, that is a separate site vote with its own threshold and timeline.
Where the two proposals differ
Prepared by MTA staff as a reading aid. The documents themselves control. Where a cell reads Not addressed, that document is silent on the point — it does not mean that party opposes it.
| Issue | MTA proposal (10:30 a.m.) | MCS counter-proposal (8:30 a.m.) |
|---|---|---|
| Which sites | Up to two sites, “as agreed upon by the parties based on site voting.” No sites named. | Up to two sites, drawn from three named: Fairview, Franklin, El Vista. |
| Site vote to begin | “The threshold to implement the pilot schedule shall be no less than 65% of teachers voting in support.” Vote no later than the second week of November. | Not addressed. |
| Annual re-vote | Site “must hold a vote annually” no later than the end of the first week in May. Below 65%, the site “will revert to the schedule that was in use prior.” | Not addressed. |
| Site Leadership Pay | Site leadership meetings beyond the scheduled hour paid at $80/HR. | Not addressed. |
| Credentialing | “CLTs and Prep Providers shall not be required to obtain a new credential to deliver prep.” | Participating teachers “must agree to one of the identified credentialing pathways provided.” District to create a Committee on Assignments training program at no cost to the teacher. |
| Order of subjects in the day | “Teachers have the discretion to determine the arrangement of content within the Instructional Day.” | “Teachers have the discretion to determine the arrangement of content within the Instructional Blocks, consistent with the parameters, including where ELD is placed.” |
| Minimum daily minutes fixed in the MOU | Not addressed. MTA’s proposal leaves the arrangement of content to the teacher. | ELA minimum 120 minutes; math minimum 75 minutes (K-2) and 90 minutes (grades 3-6); MTSS minimum 30 minutes; designated ELD minimum 25 minutes; PE 200 minutes every ten days. |
| Prep provider and CLT prep time | “a minimum of 24 hours of prep per year, in no less than 30-minute blocks.” | Itinerant (VAPA/PE) teachers “will have a minimum of 40 minutes of prep time per week.” |
| Dedicated classroom | Each prep provider and CLT “shall be provided with a dedicated, on-site instructional classroom.” “Cart-based instruction shall not be used in lieu of providing a dedicated classroom.” | Not addressed. |
| Band and orchestra | “At minimum, maintain current 4th-6th Band and Orchestra pull out programs. FTE shall be no less than current staffing levels.” | Grades 4-6 students who elect string orchestra or band “may be pulled out during the VAPA Special,” plus one non-prep day in the same block, coordinated so it does not interrupt Tier I core instruction. |
| Changing the schedule mid-pilot | Not addressed. | Site administration, in consultation with the certificated site leadership team, “is authorized to modify” the schedule with five (5) work day notice. Not authorized to extend work hours. |
| End date | Ends May 30, 2027, unless the parties agree in writing to extend. | Ends May 30, 2027, unless the parties agree in writing to extend. |
How to read these documents
- Check the footer of every page. It names the party that wrote the document and the date and time it was exchanged. Two documents dated the same day are not the same document.
- Silence matters. A term that appears in one party’s document and not the other’s is an open item, not a settled one.
- Struck-through text has been withdrawn by the party that wrote it and is no longer part of that proposal.
Questions
Contact your site representative or the MTA office. If you believe a document on this page is incomplete or mislabeled, tell us and we will correct it.