REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
March 25, 2025
FROM
LEONARDO GONZALEZ, Director, Human Resources Department
ARLENE MOLINA, Director, Preschool Services Department
SUBJECT
Title
Side Letter Agreement with Teamsters Local 1932 for Preschool Services Department Non-Supervisory and Supervisory Units
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Side Letter Agreement with Teamsters Local 1932, representing employees in the Preschool Services Department Non-Supervisory Unit and Preschool Services Department Supervisory Unit, transitioning employees from 9-month contracts to 12-month contracts, effective April 5, 2025.
(Presenter: Nora Verceles, County Labor Relations Chief, 387-5565)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies and Stakeholders.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). All costs associated with Preschool Services Department’s (PSD) contract positions are funded by grants for the Head Start (HS), Early Head Start (EHS), State Early Education (CSPP) and Child Development (CCTR) programs. There are no additional costs associated with this Side Letter Agreement (Agreement) as the Agreement is outlining the terms of the transition from a 9-month employment contract to a 12-month employment contract. Sufficient appropriation and revenue have been included in the PSD’s 2024-25 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
PSD operates the HS, EHS, General Child Care and Development, and State Preschool programs. These programs provide education, health, nutrition, cognitive, social/emotional, physical growth and development, and parent involvement services for children ages 0 to 5 with the goal of increasing family engagement and the school readiness of young children in economically disadvantaged families. Head Start and State Preschool programs have been operating in the county since 1965. Since 1999, PSD has provided these programs through a combination of direct and contracted services.
In July 2023, PSD was placed on a Full Enrollment Initiative Plan by the Office of Head Start. As part of this process, the department agreed to make shifts in program planning, based on a thorough community and consumer assessment. Concurrently, the state of California increased service to four- and five-year-old children by expanding transitional kindergarten by over 200,000 slots, creating an oversaturation of programs serving children of that age group with part-day, nine-month programs.
On April 23, 2024 (Item No. 34), the Board of Supervisors approved a Change of Scope submitted by PSD. This reduced the number of children served and allowed PSD to maintain current funding levels by increasing the duration of services, eliminating all part-day programs with an annual class schedule of 128 calendar days, and replacing them with both infant and toddler classes and full day, full year programs. In order to comply with the change in programming, the County determined that all PSD employees contracted to work on a 9-month basis must now contract to work on a 12-month basis. The decision to move PSD employees from 9-month contracts to a 12-month contract is a necessity based on the programming changes made at the state and federal levels.
The County met and conferred with Teamsters Local 1932 regarding transitioning employees from 9-month contracts to 12-month contracts. This communication resulted in the recommended Agreement. The Agreement includes:
• Honoring the employees’ service hours in the 9-month contract position as they transition to the 12-month contract position.
• Allowing employees to use vacation hours upon accrual, waiving the 1040-hour requirement.
• Giving hiring priority for current 9-month contract employees, should 9-month contract classifications return to the programs.
• Allowing current 9-month contract employees to schedule vacations during the next six months, subject to operational need and management approval.
• Allowing current 9-month contract employees the choice to either cash out their Paid Time Off (PTO) upon signing their new contract (on a prorated basis); or maintain their current PTO bank for future use.
If approved, the Agreement will become effective April 5, 2025.
PROCUREMENT
N/A
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Cynthia O’Neill, Chief Assistant County Counsel, 387-5455) on March 14, 2025; Human Resources (Leonardo Gonzalez, Director, 387-5570) on March 14, 2025; Finance (Paul Garcia, Administrative Analyst, 386-8392) on March 14, 2025; and County Finance and Administration (Cheryl Adams, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0238) on March 14, 2025.