San Carlos School District

Board Ratifies Contract with Teachers

Posted on 23. Jul, 2010 in Uncategorized

Dear San Carlos School District Community:

Last night the Board ratified an agreement with the San Carlos Teachers Association, the union chapter representing teachers in the San Carlos School District. The key terms of that agreement include:

• Continuing for one more year the reduction of the teachers’ work schedule by maintaining the two furlough days defined for the 2009/10 school year. In addition, one optional staff development day will be permanently eliminated. These changes will result in an approximate 1.5% across-the-board salary decrease for teachers. The changes will not reduce the number of days students are taught in classrooms. They do, however, reduce the District’s ability to train and develop its teaching staff.
• Allowing class sizes to increase slightly for both the 2010/11 and 2011/12 school years. For kindergarten through third grade, class sizes can be as large as 24 students, or 26 if the District shows a pressing need, up from the previous limit of 22 children. For fourth grade, class sizes can go up to 30 students, or 32 if the need exists, up from the previous 28 students. In grades five through eight, class sizes will generally remain at 32 in core classes, but may increase to 34 students if necessary. Core classes exclude band and physical education.
• Teachers will forgo the normal automatic seniority-based pay increase (“step”) for the 2010/11 school year. While the impact varies depending upon a teacher’s particular situation, this will reduce what teachers expected to earn during the 2010/11 school year by 2.2%, on average. Unless changed through future negotiations, as of July 1, 2011 teachers will be restored to the seniority-based salary bracket they would have been in had no changes been made.

The parties also agreed to re-open discussions under certain circumstances, essentially if the State’s level of education funding changes significantly. As of today, the State’s education funding formula is undefined, and still being negotiated in the Legislature, and with the Governor’s office.

The District forecasts that these agreed-upon changes will reduce expenses by about $780,000 for the 2010/11 school year. This is significantly less than the original target of $1,000,000, but the Board believes accepting the lower level of savings is justified, for several reasons:

• Analysis of the final roster of teachers who were laid off as a result of increasing class sizes showed that more savings would be realized than was originally anticipated;
• Fundraising by the San Carlos Educational Foundation exceeded what was expected;
• The District was successful in securing additional outside grant funding; and,
• Preliminary feedback on the District’s new fee-for-service summer and after-school programs is positive, raising the hope that these initiatives will be able to support the general education program sooner than expected.

In addition, the Board believes resolving these protracted and difficult negotiations, without imposing terms or reducing student instructional days, is important for setting the right tone for the start of school in August.

Nonetheless, ratifying this agreement carries with it a higher level of financial risk for the District. We are factoring in, today, a more optimistic picture of the future than we expected just a month or so ago. Put another way, if those improvements do indeed occur they will unlikely be the basis for increasing teacher compensation. That’s because they have already been factored into this agreement.

The District and Board also view reducing professional development time as a necessary but unfortunate compromise. Teaching is challenging work, and staying abreast of best practices is vital to providing the excellent educational experience the community expects. Restoring training and development for teachers is an important priority.

Finally, the Board would have preferred that at least some of these changes did not expire so quickly. California’s education funding problem, like the state’s overall fiscal crisis, is unlikely to reverse itself soon. Temporary changes can end up being time-consuming, because unless conditions change they require repeated renegotiations. Given the state’s outlook and the short-term nature of the agreement we ratified, it is likely the District will need to engage with the SCTA in serious negotiations for the 2011/2012 school year.

Nevertheless, coming to a mutually agreeable settlement is an important event, and one that sets the stage for a better school year for our students. We thank our colleagues in the SCTA for all the time and effort they spent at the negotiating table, and the Board commends staff for the hard work and multiple analyses which enabled an agreement to take shape.

Please feel free to contact Craig Baker, our Superintendent, or any trustee if you have any questions on this announcement. You can reach Craig at cbaker@sancarlos.k12.ca.us, while trustee contact information is available at www.sancarlos.k12.ca.us/school-board/board-members/.

Very Truly Yours,