LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A potential strike by the Middletown Teachers Association has been averted thanks to the union and the Middletown Unified School District reaching an agreement that the district school board will consider approving on Wednesday night.

The district will hold its regular board meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 7, in the Middletown Unified multi-use room, located at 20932 Big Canyon Road.

On April 16, the membership of the Middletown Teachers Association, or MTA, voted overwhelmingly to authorize a potential strike, the first time such a vote was taken since the association was formed more than 30 years ago, as Lake County News has reported.

At that time, Middletown Unified Superintendent Jeff Crane told Lake County News that a May 2 bargaining session between the district and union was planned, and that the district was optimistic progress would be made.

As it turned out, that session yielded a tentative agreement that both Crane and union representative Diego Santelices confirmed that the MTA’s membership voted to ratify on Tuesday.

Now, it’s up to the Middletown Unified School Board to make a final decision on the contract, which it’s expected to do on Wednesday evening.

The tentative agreement calls for a 1% salary increase for MTA members to be added to the salary schedule starting in 2025-26 — and retroactive to July 1, 2025 — if the district’s unaudited actuals for the 2024-25 school year reflect an increase in the end balance for unrestricted funds that equals more than $6.1 million.

The single year retro payment is expected to total $850 per full-time employee, according to the agenda packet.

Other provisions of the tentative agreement include that the district will arrange for mandated training to be completed during professional development time, early release days and in lieu of staffing meetings, with an effort to reduce training as much as possible; for peer support stipends to be increased to $2,500 annually; for adjustments to be made surrounding rules for bilingual stipends; and for the district to send an annual reminder at the start of the school year to all personnel responsible for individualized education programs, or IEPs, in order for them to prepare for their participation.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, and on Bluesky, @erlarson.bsky.social. Find Lake County News on the following platforms: Facebook, @LakeCoNews; X, @LakeCoNews; Threads, @lakeconews, and on Bluesky, @lakeconews.bsky.social.