|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
After months of the Association of Pleasanton Teachers being at an impasse in negotiations with the Pleasanton Unified School District. the school board will vote on approving a new contract Thursday that will increase teachers’ salaries and benefits.
According to Thursday’s staff report, the board will officially disclose the specifics of the new collective bargaining agreement and receive community input before making its final decision. However, part of Thursday’s discussion will circle back to the thousands of dollars in reductions the district will have to make in its budget over the next few years.
“Reductions in expenditures and right-sizing of staffing are required to ensure the district’s ability to meet the obligations under this tentative agreement and remain fiscally solvent,” according to the staff report.
The APT first announced it was at an impasse in negotiations with the district back in October and the union, up until early March, was at the cusp of authorizing a strike. The two sides were at a standstill throughout the negotiation process mainly because the district wouldn’t budge on salary increases.
The new tentative agreement, if approved by the board, includes a cumulative 10% salary increase for teachers. A 4.5% increase for the 2023-24 school year will retroactively start on July 1 and will be followed by a 5% increase retroactive to Jan. 1 and 0.50% effective May 1.
As for medical benefits, the district will change its annual health care contribution from $5,000 to $12,256 effective Jan. 1. According to the staff report, this change represents full single coverage for Kaiser.
The new contract also includes a payment increase from $2 per day to $20 per day for teachers who have classes that exceed the class size cap — which means the number of students typically allowed per classroom — effective July 1.
Other compensation changes in the agreement include an increase in masters, doctorate and national board certification stipends from $750 to $1,000; a $5,000 increase for dual language immersion teachers who have a Bilingual Cross-cultural Language and Academic Development authorization; special education stipend increases from $1,500 to $5,000; and $225 per night payouts to teachers who provide overnight supervision for elementary school outdoor education.
The last major compensation change in the contract will be for years of service credit.
Service credit refers to the number of years a teacher has been teaching which — in addition to their education — can be factored into a new district in order to land on a higher level on the salary scale.
According to the new agreement, “members hired prior to July 1, 2022 can receive credit up to 15 years of service for previous professional experience and advance on the schedule starting on July 1, 2024.”
However, the increase in compensation for teachers will not come without a hefty price to the district.
According to the staff report, the costs — which are adjusted based on planned reductions and layoffs — will be almost $7.5 million in the 2023-24 fiscal year, nearly $10 million in 2024-25 and roughly $9.9 million in 2025-26. And that’s just for salaries and benefits — it doesn’t include health benefits, stipends and years of service credits.
That’s why according to staff, the district will need to make almost $8.7 million in reductions in the 2024-25 fiscal year and just over $252,000 in 2025-26.
The contract approval will be broken up into two items — the first will be the disclosure and public discussion on the specifics of the agreement and then the actual approval of the new contract.
The board’s open-session meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday (April 11). Read the full agenda here.
In other business:
* The board will be voting on approving a resolution to confirm the district’s commitment to fiscal solvency.
As seen in the new tentative agreement with the APT, the district will be seeing future financial challenges in its budget. Increases in salaries and benefits to the APT and to the classified staff because they have a “me too” clause in its collective bargaining agreement with the district that says they get the same raises, means the district’s expenditures will be going up.
Other factors that are impacting the district’s budget which will require it to make reductions include declining enrollments, a revised 0.76% Cost of Living Adjustment from the state’s 2024 budget proposal and increased costs in special education services.
“The impact of declining enrollment and 0.76% reduced our projected (Local Control Funding Formula) revenues from the adopted budget by $4.76M for 2024-25,” according to the staff report.
Because the district has lower revenues and increased costs, it will have to make reductions or identify and secure new revenue sources in order to maintain its 3% unrestricted general fund reserve for the current and next two fiscal years.
That’s why staff is bringing up a resolution to have the district commit to ensure its fiscal solvency by making planned reductions in certificated, classified and management positions — which will reduce how much PUSD spends on salaries and benefits — as well as in books, supplies, services and operating expenses.
Other measures staff plan to make in order to address these financial challenges are revenue enhancements and reallocating one-time grant funds, according to the staff report.
* Staff will be recommending that the board approve the 2023-24 salary schedule for management, which includes a 3.1% increase in salary and an increase in the health contribution to district-provided medical options from $10,284 to $12,256 annually.
* A new memorandum of understanding between the APT and PUSD regarding the process for existing certificated employees to request out-of-district service credit for the 2024-25 school year will be brought up for approval during Thursday’s meeting.
* During closed session, the board will be voting on appointing a new assistant superintendent of human resources who will replace former superintendent Julio Hernandez who parted ways with PUSD at the end of last year.
The new hire’s name is not public at this moment, according to PUSD Director of Communications Patrick Gannon.
After the closed session, the board will be voting on approving the employment agreement with the new hire. The new contract will go into effect on April 12 until June 30, 2027 and will start the new assistant superintendent with a base salary of $238,312 per year.
