YISD enters settlement talks with group of teachers

For more than a decade, there has been an ongoing dispute between the Ysleta Independent School District and the Ysleta Teachers Association.

The two have been at odds over back pay for some the district’s most experienced teachers.

Back in 2006, the state of Texas mandated teachers be given a raise of $2,500.

According to the YTA, the district never paid the most experienced teachers all the money they were owed.

Arlinda Valenica is the YTA president.

“They were supposed to use the 2005-2006 salary schedule. That’s where the mess up came. In the Ysleta School District they used their own schedule,” Valencia said.

The teachers association reported more than a hundred teachers are still waiting for all of their money.

The item was on the agenda of tonight’s YISD board meeting.

Superintendent Xavier De La Torre about the decision to finally negotiate after all these years. He pointed out that he and the current board inherited this situation, but they are anxious to try and bring it to an end.

“One of the things they have to do is to go back and discuss it with their members. And I believe what we need is a global universal release form all of the individuals involved in the initial lawsuit. So, the association will have to work on that but we are prepared to move forward,” De La Torre said.

The teacher’s association is giving this board credit for helping to bring the years long battle to an end.

But they are saddened because some of the teachers still waiting for their pay have either died or are now living in assisted living centers.