CEA

President's Message   

Welcome 2026-2027 Certificated Educators!

Welcome to the 2026-27 School Year!

I hope you all had a great summer and will have a great year ahead. Here’s some important information and reminders for the year. Please contact your CEA Site Reps, CEA Directors, or myself if you need anything, have questions or concerns. Best Wishes to You All - Kate Lee, CEA President

New Superintendent and Associate Superintendent of HR

Our new Superintendent is Dr. Jennifer Hawn. She has been superintendent for Piedmont Unified since 2023.  Her first day with CUSD is August 13th. I briefly met her at the board meeting in July where her selection was announced.  I look forward to working with her to protect our jobs, improve our working conditions, and our compensation.

Our new Associated Superintendent of HR is Mike Cellini. He has replaced Mike Ghelber in that position. He’s been in CUSD for many years, as an Assistant Principal, Principal at many schools and as a Director in the district office.

Important CEA Rights That District and Principals Should Follow: 

First Day Packet 

• Read carefully and click links for details before signing–there are changes that you are liable for knowing. The Annual Notification and Opening Day Packet is included in your Keenan SafeSchools Online Training email reminder. New/important info includes, but is not limited to: Sun Safety for students (10); Mahmoud v. Taylor opt outs and FAIR Education Act changes (21); Reading Screener for K-2 (25); Recognition of Diversity (30); Code of Conduct (31); Personal technology devices for students (44).
  
  Pay particular attention to the Employee-only section which begins on page 49. This section includes Employee Responsible Use of Technology (49-51); Use of ParentSquare and relations to privacy laws (51); Workplace Rights and response to ICE (52); Centegix Badge information (53); 911 and Workers Comp flow chart information.
  
  Know Before Signing.

Your signature on the document acknowledges that you understand and will abide by provisions in the opening day packet, and that you understand that violations may result in disciplinary or legal action, so it is important to know what you are signing before you sign.

• CEA Uniform Complaint Against CUSD MvT Opt-Out Process: CEA and the CEA Human Rights Alliance filed a uniform complaint against CUSD at the end of last year to change their opt-out process. While the report on the complaint did not find discrimination by the district, it did call for corrective action. Corrective Actions Implemented: LGBTQ+ is not singled out as an opt-out topic and the TCI LGBTQ+ lessons are no longer listed, parents need to notify the district before the end of August if they want to opt out of any potential supplemental materials their students’ teachers may use. You will receive more information from your principals. More details
  
  
  

3 Teacher Workdays Aug 10-12 (July 27-29 Murdock Portal)

• Day/Hours Allowed for District/Site Required Activities

  • The District can schedule only one day for district/site purposes. This includes site staff meetings.  

  • A day is 7.25 hours including a 20 min break and min 45 min lunch

  • They can divide their 7.25 hours over the workdays

• Mileage Reimbursement for August 10th CMS Meeting

  • We have the right for mileage reimbursement for any travel that is required, and reimbursement requests must be submitted within 60 days.

  • Fill out and submit the CUSD Mileage Reimbursement Form

  • Mileage reimbursement if only from your site to Cupertino Middle School and back to your site.  Use the CUSD mileage matrix for the approved amount. 

Individual Time Should Be Provided By Principals For Keenan Videos

• Principals should provide time for staff to complete the videos using designated time on agendas on Learning Days and Early Tues/Late Weds. This should be done in time for the Sept 18 and Dec. 4 deadlines. FAC should coordinate with the principal to ensure  this time is provided.

Class Sizes and Workloads This Year

• CUSD is in a deficit. They cut jobs and programs last year. They are forming classes by maximizing the contractual class sizes we should have.  So almost all classes are going to be very full this year, with less supports given the cuts to CSEA positions. More details

• Contractual Class Sizes 

  • TK: 20 students (1:10 with 1 teacher and 1 full time aide)

  • K-3: A site average of 22 or fewer students.  Being an average, some classes may be more than 22 with others being less than 22. If the average goes above 22 the teacher above 22 is given aide time.

  • 4-5: 29 students. If a class goes above 29, the teacher is given aide time.

  • Middle School: Average of 22. Includes very small classes, so it creates the ability for the district to load up other classes like music electives and PE, much larger.  FAC needs to request this information after the first 10 days and work with site reps and the CEA Middle School Director to determine. More details

Yard Duty Changes

• Principals should have a draft yard duty schedule based on new guidelines and have it ready to share with FAC on the first teacher work day. It should include total minutes for the year, which should be equal. FAC and principal should update the draft as needed and agreed to, then bring it to a staff meeting for explanations and input.

• The principal can use an interim schedule for a couple of weeks until the above process is completed and a yard duty schedule is released and used for the year. More details

Required Moves to Different Classroom Compensation and Safety Reminder

• If you are required to move your classroom the district must to you up to 16 hours  (2 days) to pack and 16 hours (2 days) to unpack. More details

CEA EBoard Officers and Directors

President, Kate Lee - president@ceaweb.org

Vice-President, TBD in fall 2026 election

Treasurer, Ingrid Lu - ingridcupcea@gmail.com

Secretary, TBD in fall 2026 election

Primary Director, Jo Ann Harrington - primarydirector@ceaweb.org

Upper Director, Malini Gadepally - upperdirector@ceaweb.org

Middle School Director, Shanthi Kamath - middledirector@ceaweb.org

Special Education Director, Zoe Giatis - speddirector@ceaweb.org

Communications Director, Laura Compton - commsdirector@ceaweb.org

CEA Office, Fred Yip - cea@ceaweb.org