SAANYS Unit Wins CSE Compensation Settlement in Long Beach

In a significant development for Long Beach City School District’s psychologists, a long-standing compensation dispute regarding Committee on Special Education (CSE) chair duties has been resolved through successful negotiations between the district and the Long Beach Administrative, Supervisory and Pupil Personnel Group “Group”) after the Group had filed a grievance.

The dispute began with a grievance filed in November 2024 by the union. The Grievance brought to light that since 2001, many District psychologists serving as CSE chairs were entitled to additional compensation of $1,000 annually for their services but did not receive it. The psychologists were either uninformed of this benefit upon hiring or mistakenly believed the stipend was automatically paid. This miscommunication serves as a reminder that every administrator and supervisor each July should review his/her contract to ensure all compensation is correctly paid.

The dispute affected thirteen psychologists who had served as CSE chairs between the 2006-07 and 2021-22 school years, with some veterans having performed these duties for up to 17 years without proper compensation. The total claimed compensation amounted to approximately $144,800, representing many years of unpaid stipends for affected staff members.

While the grievance was initially denied at Stage One and Stage Two, the Board of Education then proposed a settlement in the spirit of maintaining positive labor relations.

Looking forward, the district has agreed to increase the CSE chair stipend from $1,250 to $2,000 under the new current five-year contract. This increased stipend amount will remain in effect until 2029, at which point it will revert back to $1,250/year unless renegotiated. Though some veteran staff members expressed disappointment with the sunset provision, union leadership emphasized that this represents a significant improvement over potentially receiving no compensation adjustment at all since under arbitral law, damages would be limited to the current school year because of the statute of limitations expired.

This case highlights the importance of contract awareness among educational professionals. “The moral is to be vigilant in understanding your contract and understanding what benefits you are entitled to receive,” noted SAANYS counsel Arthur P. Scheuermann. The settlement serves as a reminder of the value of both careful contract review and cooperative problem-solving between school districts and their professional staff.