Here are the highlights:
C.G.. There were many impassioned pleas to keep CG open. They made a strong case for the unique opportunities of this small country school with a family atmosphere. In the end: the Board gave direction to staff to keep CG open next year.
Music. Again there was a great deal of passion and even tears to keep the classroom music program for second and third grade. The pleas extended to the loss of the two least senior teachers- band and orchestra at RVHS, since these two would have been laid off if 2nd and 3rd grade music were eliminated. In the end: the Board directed staff to keep the two music teachers.
Nurses. Again some spoke to keep nurses. In the end: The Board directed staff to keep one of the two nurses proposed to be cut.
Class-size reduction. Again some spoke of the impact of 28:1 in today's K-3 classrooms with the demands of world-class standards, high-stakes testing and Edusoft to target proficiency for all. In the end: The Board and Baldev both indicated the intent to use Title I funding to supplement class size reduction. This would result in the use of Title I money to reduce class sizes. But this action will not occur until after the June 24 meeting where the Board will act upon the PKS resolutions (elimination or reduction of a Particular Kind of Service- the lay off action) The lay off will likely result in notices to 41 additional members with multiple subject credentials and perhaps more to account for the District's cautious overage. This would move notices into the third year and permanent employees with multiple subject credentials. HOWEVER. Two things will reduce the number as they are rehired. One. There are 26 current vacancies that the District has not filled to this point with rehires in anticipation of this event. Two. The promised use of Title I to offset the increased class size. This is more difficult to predict, but it may result in the return of an additional 20-30 teaching positions (this is purely speculative without being overly optimistic but rather a reasonable expectation). I hope that you will join me at the first board meeting in July (7/8/09) to advocate for this use of funds. Please be there to tell the Board why reduced class sizes in K-3 are critical to the Board goal of proficiency in reading for all third grade students.
Counselors. Here is where the news is less encouraging. We have made multiple attempts to retain elementary counseling. YCTA members ranked this as one of the highest priorities following only class size at all grade levels. Unfortunately, it appears that the District will not be moving towards retaining this program. The Board clearly supports the program as evidenced by their previous actions, however in the fact of deeper cuts they were only able to direct funding for one day per week at each K-5 site. Elementary administrators indicated that at that level of service it was no longer a viable program. We are naturally disappointed in this decision. Elementary counselor are a vital part of ability to meet the needs of our students.
Lit Coaches and Assistant Principals. The District has solicited input from principals regarding their priorities. The principals rank either lit coaches or assistant principals as their highest priority. At one point the Board appeared ready to fund both using $300,000 from the general fund for three assistant principals and $482,000 from Title II categoricals (teacher quality money) to fund 0.5 lit coaches for each site for a total of 6 lit coaches using the District Title II money (and many sites have already approved purchase of the other half using site funds). There was more than one hour of discussion on this issue. Member Scriven and Cooley proposed using $300,000 of the $482,000 of Title II categoricals to fund the three assistant principals and leave only $182,000 for lit coaches. Member Scriven was empathetic. If this was not done, there was effectively no cut in the level of service from the District and that it was not acceptable given the depth of other cuts being made. Superintendent Aaberg indicated that this reduced level of service for lit coaches proposed by Scriven and Cooley would likely make the lit coach program no longer viable. Member Cooley and Riley suggested that it might be time to explore other ways of delivering the same service. In the first round, four board members supported the continuation of both lit coaches and assistant principals: Jamie Ferreira, Mary Henson, Fred Northern, and Sharman Kobayshi. Member Ferreira made a strong case for allowing a site principal to decide whether to use their allocation for a lit coach or an assistant principal. However when the discussion moved on to CG, the outcome was different and Board members supported the use of the $300,000 originally intended to pay for assistant principals from the general fund be redirected to keep CG open. This decision effectively reversed the earlier direction and reduced the lit coach funding to probably less than three lit coaches funded from Title II District funds (reduced from $482,000 to $182,000). If you followed all that, YCTA lost three members of our bargaining unit in that move.
Pay cuts. 1.1% furloughs for others. Two of our unit members offered to take pay cuts to save programs, while another spoke to be mindful of the comparable salaries for teachers and avoid pay cuts. Another unit member pushed for a two day furlough for all other employees to match the two-day furlough and resulting 1.1% pay cut for teachers. Baldev's response was that only teachers benefited eight years ago from the two day increase in the work-year and 1.1% increase while no other unit benefited. Baldev reported that, "Administrators and classified have both indicated in negotiations that they will take the same cuts as teachers." Please refer to the YCTA.net website in the next few days. I will post a complete salary schedule comparison between Yuba City and Marysville. Competitive salaries are important in allowing a District to attract and retain the most highly qualified teachers. Before our 1.1% cut and before we took half of last year's COLA while Marysville got the whole COLA, we were lagging significantly behind. So the gap will grow wider - exceeding $10,000 at the top. MUTA is not discussing pay cuts, and according to Gaye Todd, superintendent of MUSD, Marysville will not be considering additional lay offs.
The Federal Stimulus Money- Fiscal Stabilization. The Board opted to save 2/3 of this money for the next two years rather than using the money now as was intended by our representatives in Washington, D.C. and President Obama. The money was intended to save jobs now. I previously sent you the letter signed by our Congressional delegation. Our Board has opted for extreme caution using only 1/3 of the money this year and 1/3 in each of the next two years.
It was a long night. The room was packed beyond capacity at 6PM, but only a few diehards remained after midnight. These are difficult times. Our Board is forced with making some very difficult decisions. I respect their commitment to making careful and deliberate decisions and their willingness to listen to all those affected by those decisions.
Upcoming dates:
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Tues June 23 7PM at the DO. The latest YCUSD 09/10 budget will be presented.
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Wed June 24 6PM at the DO. The Board will act on the second round of lay offs.
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Tues July 9 7PM at the DO. Hopefully the Board will direct staff to use Title I money to reduce class size at K-3.
Please join me for any of these meetings-
especially in July as we will continue to build the case for class size.
Please stay in touch and keep checking YCTA.net.
There will be additional lay off notices and very likely additional displacements.
I will keep you updated.
Respectfully submitted,
Dina Luetgens
YCTA President