Las Lomitas Teachers Union and District Reach Tentative Agreement to End Strike

Teachers and students at two schools in the Las Lomitas Elementary School District will be back in their classrooms Monday after the district and teachers union announced a tentative agreement Saturday night, ending a three-day strike.

The tentative agreement will include a 16% raise over three years, according to a press release from the Las Lomitas Education Association (LLEA).

In an interview with KQED, LLEA co-president Jennifer Montalvo celebrated the tentative agreement as a “big win.”

“We were able to get a three year deal and…we also got full health coverage for one person on a Kaiser plan,” Montalvo said.

The two schools in the district affected by the strike were La Entrada School in Menlo Park and Las Lomitas Elementary in Atherton.

LLEA charged that educators there had  been working on an expired contract since the summer of 2023.

Previously, the district had proposed a 7% salary increase that would be retroactive to the 2023-24 school year, as well as an ongoing 3% raise. District officials warned that offer would create an immediate $3 million dollar deficit.

In a joint statement Saturday night, LLEA and district Superintendent Dr. Beth Polito said both parties will work together “to ensure a smooth transition back to normalcy. ”

This story includes reporting from KQED’s Natalia Navarro.