In response to increased job demands that have only gotten worse during the pandemic, Fresno Teachers Association (FTA) filed three grievances against Fresno Unified School District in October for violating its contract with educators.

The grievances assert the district violated educators’ eight-hour workday, failed to provide contractually guaranteed prep time, and forced teachers on special assignment (TOSAs) to act as perpetual substitutes.

FTA President Manuel Bonilla said that the district is still adhering to old practices and expectations for educators during a time of added stress, less prep time, and new health protocols in the classroom. “It just feels like a compliance-based system as opposed to a system that trusts the expertise of its educators,” he told PBS NewsHour in November.

He said the working conditions are taking a toll on Fresno educators, with 67 percent saying they have considered stress leave, early retirement or a career change this year, according to FTA. “These are not only rights, but educators need this time to serve students,” Bonilla said in the Fresno Bee. “We have so many people that are at the brink, and this is not good for the school system.”

FTA is seeking back pay for educators forced to work more than eight hours a day, the cessation of assignments that infringe on educators’ prep time, and an end to the practice of using TOSAs as perpetual substitutes. Bonilla said teachers are less concerned about an increase in pay than they are in getting adequate time to provide what educators see as quality instruction.

“Long term, we’re worried that it’s creating a trust crisis on top of a health crisis,” Bonilla told PBS. “If the district leadership and the school board superintendent, if they’re unwilling to listen, if they’re unwilling to pivot to address the needs of educators in a crisis moment and probably the deepest needs educators have ever felt, what does that say to teachers? How else are they supposed to interpret that for when times are better?”