School Workers Agree to Salary Reductions

The Murrieta Valley Unified school board is expected to vote tonight on a labor agreement accepted by its classified employees' union.

California School Employees Association Murrieta Valley Chapter 223 agreed to take an up to 9.66-percent reduction in pay. Of that, 2.16 percent will be taken this school year and up to 7.5 percent in the 2012-2013 fiscal year, according to district documents.

CSEA Chapter 223 represents 543 classified—or non-teaching—district employees such as bus drivers, food service workers, teacher's aides, office staff and other non-certificated positions. Such employees will make up about $26.1 million of district expenditures when the 2011-2012 fiscal year closes, and a projected $23.6 million in 2012-2013.

The agreement is expected to save the district $2.8 million.

Eighty-nine percent of workers agreed to the salary concessions, which will be taken in the form of furlough days. Restoration language is built into the agreement should the budget outlook improve.

District officials have said they face a $19- to $20 million shortfall for the fiscal year that starts July 1 due to a projected additional loss of $370 per student.

Susan Butler, president of the Murrieta Valley Chapter, declined to comment for this article.

The pay reduction is in line with one taken by district management, principals and assistant principals, directors and school board members at the last board meeting.

A similar reduction has been sought in negotiations with the Murrieta Teachers Association. between the district and MTA is being voted on this week, said MTA President Kathy Ericson.

Ericson shared some details of the agreement, but cautioned it was still being voted on through Wednesday evening.

If the agreement is approved, teachers will take a 3.17-percent reduction in pay starting July 1. Five furlough days would be taken off the beginning of the school year, she said.

Then in November, if Gov. Jerry Brown's tax increases do not pass, Ericson said teachers would agree to take additional furlough days—up to the amount needed to balance the budget but not more than the 9.66-percent taken by the district's other employees.

"In other words, we are not taking the days unless the state issues cuts and it is needed," Ericson said, in a phone interview Monday.

"We are doing that to try to keep our students in the classroom and not take a salary reduction if not necessary."

Certificated staff, most of them teachers, will count toward $86.1 million in district expenditures in 2011-2012 and—with concessions—$74.6 million in 2012-2013.

The district shows expenditures of $163.3 million in its revised 2011-2012 budget, and $147.9 million in its projected 2012-2013 budget. It is expecting to make $20.2 million in adjustments, $11.8 million of that from furlough days.

In a special meeting tonight, the school board is expected to also vote on revised work-year and school-year calendars commiserate with the pay reductions.

This school year would drop from 179 to 176 student days and end June 1.

The 2012-2013 school year would be 175 student days; it would begin Aug. 21 and end June 11, 2013.

Two days at the end of the 2012-2013 school year would be reserved as flex days should more state cuts be imposed. If that were to occur, the school year would go down to 173 days and end June 7, 2013.

School district officials during the last meeting lauded the agreements reached by both employee groups.