UPDATED: School District, Teachers Avoid Layoffs With Agreement

Murrieta Valley Unified School District has reached an agreement with their teachers and a tentative agreement with classified employees that will avoid layoffs for next year and provide for equitable salary reductions among all employees, school district officials said today.

Preliminary to go out to more than 100 teachers, 77 of them at the elementary level. Teachers and the district worked together to reach an agreement before a March 15 deadline for issuing the notices.

The agreement with Murrieta Teachers Association (MTA) includes a salary reduction of 5.28 percent and 10 furlough days for the 2011-2012 school year, said Karen Parris, district spokeswoman, in a news release.

According to Parris, the teacher's association ratified the agreement with 86 percent approval, agreeing to take the concessions over 12 months, from July 2011 to June 2012.

Additionally, a tentative agreement with non-teaching employees includes a 2.36 percent pay reduction for the 2011-2012 school year and a total reduction of 5.28 percent over three years.

"Classified employees took one furlough day in 2009-2010, six furlough days this year and under the tentative agreement, they will take from three to six furlough days in 2011-2012, depending on the number of days they work during the year," Parris said.

Classified (non-teaching) employees are expected to vote on their agreement on March 24, after the Classified School Employees Association has had a chance to review it, Parris said. Classified employees will recieve official notification of the agreement March 11, which will be followed by a review period.

The district’s management employees are taking a pay reduction and furlough days this year and next--equivalent to the reductions taken by other groups, Parris said. Classified employees and management are spreading out the concessions over 26 months from May 2010 through June 2012.

Superintendent Stan Scheer thanked all employee groups for stepping up equally, "so that no one group will unfairly shoulder the burden."

"We are grateful that all employees of this District, teachers, classified and management, agreed to make sacrifices and selflessly stand in the gap to save jobs and maintain quality educational programs for our students," Scheer said.

Parris said that with an uncertain state budget and a possible special election in June where voters will be asked to approve tax extensions, Murrieta Valley Unified will face a budget deficit in 2011-2012 if tax extensions are not approved.

"Schools across the state will lose $2 billion in funding which would result in an additional $330 per student cut in funding which translates into an additional cut of $7 million for our school district. The new employee agreements are based on this potential loss of revenue," Parris said.

"Unfortunately, if the tax extension proposal is not approved by the voters and the state is unable to find additional funding for education due to the current condition of the state budget, the district could receive an additional reduction in funding per student for 2011-2012 beyond the projected $330 per student cut."

Should a tax extension be approved by voters, the total loss in funding would be approximately $19 per student, she said. Last year’s agreements and the new agreements include restoration and contingency language should the fiscal situation improve or deteriorate.

Kathy Ericson, vice president of the Murrieta Teachers Association, said Thursday night that taking the 10 days was "a tough decision" for teachers.

"But I've never seen these teachers not step up and do what needs to be done. This is just one piece of what teachers have done."

As a result of the furlough days, there will be five less student days in 2011-2012. Teachers will take three furlough days before the start of the school year, giving them no prep days before students come back to school. The remainder of their furlough days will be taken at the end of the school year, making the last day of school for students May 31.

"The goal of that was to not interrupt the learning," Ericson said.