Dear IHSCA Family,
Welcome back! We hope that your first few weeks of school have been full of early successes!
My name is Delta Cervantes, I am the interim Principal at Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy. I am thrilled to embark on this new chapter and eagerly look forward to working with our esteemed parents and stakeholders. With a wealth of experience and expertise, I am committed to the growth and development of IHSCA and the academic success of all students.
We would like to take a moment to provide an update on ongoing teachers’ union negotiations.
Since October of 2022, our schools’ leadership team has been meeting with the Teachers’ Union bargaining team each month; to date, our bargaining team has met with the Union team for a total of 30 sessions.
Negotiations stalled in July due largely to the Union’s unavailability to meet with our school leadership team. The schools proposed eight (8) dates and times to meet for negotiations and the Union accepted two of those options but cancelled the first session. Therefore, the parties only met once during the month of July. Despite that, the parties were able to reach a tentative agreement on two new proposals during that July session. The parties’ most recent session proved to be productive: the parties reached an agreement on four additional proposals bringing the total number of tentative agreements to seven: (1) Duration; (2) Academic Freedom; (3) Summer School; (4) Teaching Evaluations; (5) Green Schools; (6) Culturally Relevant/Responsive Education; and (7) Class Size.
Though the summer school break proved a difficult time for the parties to meet, the schools remain committed in their efforts to meet with the Union team. As of today, the parties have exchanged, first and second counters, if not more, to over forty (40) proposals. Furthermore, the Schools continue to bargain in good faith and remain steadfast in their commitment to bring negotiations to a conclusion with a new collective bargaining agreement. The parties also just began to discuss the benefits of mediation and plan to further discuss the process in October.
Moreover, the Schools are dedicated to creating a learning environment that will help students achieve academic success and are working hand in hand with CPS to address and resolve any issues that they have identified as having the potential to affect student learning. As always, please feel free to reach out to school leadership with any questions or concerns.
Finally, I would like to extend a warm welcome to my Instituto colleague, Ms. Maribel Arellano, our new Principal at IJLA. Ms. Arellano was most recently IJLA’s interim Principal. Both Ms. Arellano and I are fully committed to our work, ensuring that all students receive the necessary resources to reach their goals and look forward to working with you to help our students succeed this school year.
We look forward to an exciting 2023-24 school year!
Thank You,
Delta Cervantes
Interim Principal
Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy