NEA-LC says the district developed a plan requiring educators to reapply for their jobs before partnering with the union as required under the collective bargaining agreement

Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News

LAS CRUCES - Las Cruces Public Schools developed a plan requiring educators at Mesilla Valley Leadership Academy to reapply for their jobs before consulting the teachers union, according to the president of NEA-Las Cruces.

The union’s account complicates an explanation district officials gave during Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, when LCPS pointed to collective bargaining requirements while discussing staffing changes associated with a proposed overhaul of MVLA.

Julie Wojtko, president of NEA-LC, told Organ Mountain News that the collective bargaining agreement does require the district and union to work together when certain school changes affect staffing.

But she said that did not happen before the reapplication plan was created.

Article 10D of the agreement says that when staffing changes are caused by the opening, closing or consolidation of schools, movement of students between schools or boundary changes, the Human Resources Department must work with the Association to develop a staffing plan acceptable to both sides.

“The Steering Committee did not partner with the Association when it created the plan requiring educators to reapply for their jobs,” Wojtko said in an email Sunday morning.

She said NEA-LC began discussions with the district only after learning about the plan.

“Upon learning about this plan, NEA-LC initiated discussions with the District to develop a plan that is mutually acceptable to both parties," Wojtko said. "NEA-LC now has representation on the Steering Committee, and we look forward to being part of future important decisions.”

The union has since been invited to place a representative on the MVLA Steering Committee, she said.

“We look forward to being part of future important decisions,” Wojtko said.

The distinction matters because the collective bargaining agreement does not appear to require current MVLA employees to submit new applications for their existing jobs.

Instead, the agreement requires LCPS and NEA-LC to jointly develop a plan when qualifying staffing changes occur.

That process, according to Wojtko, had not taken place before the district’s reapplication requirement was developed.

The staffing issue surfaced as LCPS considers major changes to MVLA, including a proposed restructuring of the school beginning next year.

Parents, students and staff raised concerns during Tuesday’s school board meeting about the effect those changes could have on the school’s existing culture, programs and personnel.

Among the concerns was the district’s proposal that current educators reapply for positions under the redesigned school model.

The district’s explanation during the meeting left the impression that collective bargaining rules played a role in requiring that process.

NEA-LC’s account now draws a different line: the union agreement requires collaboration over staffing changes, but the union says it was not part of the process when the reapplication requirement was created.

That leaves the district and union now working toward the consultation process the agreement called for in the first place.

Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.