During the Tuesday night school board meeting, Casey Goodall, associate superintendent of business services, said the district might need to cut between $800,000 and $900,000 more from the budget because the state could give school districts less than anticipated.
After Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a $1.5 billion budget cut for education statewide in January, the district trimmed $12.9 million from next school year’s budget, which included dismantling the magnet arts classes at Poet Christian School, slashing the Tracy Adult School budget, slicing the district’s athletics budget by 25 percent and announcing layoffs and hour reductions for more than 150 district employees.
The state could give districts less money for the cost-of-living adjustments than what was originally proposed, according to the May revise meeting in Sacramento.
School districts could also face an additional decrease in money they receive per student. In January, Schwarzenegger proposed to give districts 3.7 percent less per student. Earlier this month, he said that number could increase to 3.85 percent.
Schwarzenegger also proposed earlier this month that the amount of money given to each district should be calculated based on the actual average daily attendance for each individual district, instead of using an average unified school district, which is how previous numbers have been determined.
Tracy Unified administrators estimated that the district could lose $55 more per student based on the new attendance proposal. If the state continued calculating cuts based on the average unified school district, Tracy would lose only an extra $1 per student based on the new May numbers, according to district officials.
Based on the January budget workshop, Tracy Unified would lose about $202 per student because of budget cuts. If the state decided to base its funding on actual average daily attendance, Tracy could lose about $257 per student next year. The district received about $6,697 per student from the state this school year.
The state budget is a work in progress and will not be final until it is approved later in the year. School districts are required to have a balanced budget approved by their school boards by the end of June.
Goodall said these additional cuts are “very likely to occur,” but he is hopeful that frugal spending by district employees this year could leave some breathing room. He expects to have a better idea of the ending balance for this fiscal year at the June 22 school board meeting.
Because of the possibility of losing more money from the state, district Superintendent Jim Franco said an immediate hiring freeze is in effect, and the district will “make do” with existing employees.
He also said it will try to renegotiate contracts for supplies and equipment, such as copy machines, and look into other ways to save money.
Goodall said more information about the budget for next school year will be presented at the June 22 meeting.
• Contact reporter Jaclyn Hirsch at 830-4269 or jhirsch@tracypress.com.
But thanks fer correctin my comments, cause CSEA is who I was focusin on an I appreciate ya makin that correction.
Th point is regardless of what yer callin th collective barganin group, it seems th members are not gettin th full word on what thair votin on before they vote. I hold both th union an the district administrators responsible fer this.
In this particular case a lot of classified workers ended up votin fer somethang that made thair situation worse an not better; takin a 20% cut in wages an addin 5 furlough days ta boot.
Now I am lookin ta th administration in th School District office ta do th right thang an notify th people in limbo as ta whether or not they have a job ta employ em next school year or if they should start seekin employment elsewhare.
All of that, accordin ta th district administrators, was ta be handled by th end of th school year. Well, th school year just ended an guess what? Many of these employees still don't know what thair employment status is gonna be next year.
Personally I thank with th impetus ta "save" further monies, th district will end up replacin these people with part time employees that are even cheaper by th fact th district won't have ta pay em full time wages or give em any benefits.
Time will tell th tale an hopefully I am wrong in my assessment of the districts overall performance when dealin with thair employees. But after watchin this problem fer over a year now, I am not very inclined ta trust th district administration or th unions ta do th right thang.
Please use grownup words and write again.
Who is CETA?
There is TEA; Tracy Educators Association and California School Employee Association (CSEA) which the Classified (hourly/non teaching) employees belong to. Then there is a third bargaining unit- TSMA; Tracy Schools Mgmt Assoc. Those folks are Administrators (non-exempt) and other mangement employees.
Here's one ta mull over. CETA represents more than just teachers. It also represents many hourly classified clerical workers in th district.
Recently these folks were asked ta vote on if they would give 5 days as furlough days ta help keep others from not bein laid off.
When they had take a poll ta see if a vote was necessary, th district had not yet announced that many of th 12 month employees were gonna get cut back to only 10 months. Some quick figurin would tell th average person that would equate ta a 20% reduction in thair incomes.
So, without that information th workers voted. An because they didn't want ta appear greedy an not see people loose thair jobs, it passed 60 ta 40 in favor of th furlough.
So now, an this don't affect all th employees, those who got th 20% reduction in incomes as a result of workin 10 months instead of 12 months outa th year, which fer clerical workers ain't all that much, they get rewarded with a 20% cut plus 5 days loss in pay while th other clerical employees that get ta stay on 12 months outa th year only lost 5 days pay.
Sorry but that don't seem fair ta me.
An now, with th information in this article, it seems those who did survive this round of cutbacks are still in deep weeds when it comes ta their continued employment. These people are at th bottom of th hourly pay scale and use ta make about $28,000 ta $32,000 per year plus benefits.
Try ta manage a household an a family an take a 20% plus five day loss in yer annual income an still make ends meet. Thair's a lot of folks sufferin on this but th administrators in th Taj Mahal don't seem ta be personally affected much.
Sorry but I also don't have much confidence in th district administration ta do th right thing either.
When these classified workers were told they would have ta cut back on thair job positions, they were also told thair seniority would allow em ta go through a "bumpin" process whair th most senior employees would bump out th less senior employees.
This was ta take place before th end of th school year BEFORE everyone took off fer th summer an th HR people in th district office would be doing th work so that those who remained would know they had a job th followin year.
Now they have reneged on that an are sayin they won't know until just before th new year starts an those that have jobs will be recalled.
So thairs a bunch of folks now in limbo that may or may not have jobs th next school year an it don't seem that anyone but them is much consarned about it.
TP, if ya want ta do a story, that would be a good en ta write fer th rest of us ta read an consider.
Sorry folks, but in all thangs like this, I blame two entities. Th leadership that should be doin somethang ta prevent thangs like this from happenin, an th voter who elected but didn't monitor th school boards an State Department of Education officials who seem to have botched th whole thing.
As ya cast yer vote for th lyin politician that wants ta get elected ta represent ya, please remember that it's you that gives them th power to mess ya over like this. An if ya keep electin th same bozos over an over again, then ya got no one ta blame but yerselves fer th mess ya find yerselves in taday.
That's somethang ta consider when yer lettin Meg Whitman buy th goober seat or givin it back ta "Moonbeam" Brown ta mess up further. Folks, please look past thair promises an inta th thangs they have really done in thair own lives.
Remember, ya diserve th government ya elect.
Well, the union leadership knew that secondary teachers did not have a reason to help the elementary schools, and the vote on the last day at school, at sites where so many held secondary credentials, meant those individuals turned out in large numbers. It is easier to vote at your own site, and instead the vote was at two sites strongly against furloughs according to the survey. But both parties knew that.
Only about 54% of the membership voted: and the new contract passed resoundly. There will be a raise next year (STEPS) and there will not be furloughs.
Can you blame the union? NO. Many who voted were not informed, yet that was their duty. Many who fought for an improved salary: also were not informed. To have compassion for a "team" when all families are facing hardships, is difficult. Most getting laid-off failed to vote. Most who will be next in line, also did not vote. Now it is time to reunite and fight the next battle: adequate school funding.
Was it a failure to try to ignite our union leadership? No. The discussion was one heard in every district: our district deserved to at least have a similar discussion. To remain silent, when all parties agreed there is a major lack of communication at the site level, would be to continue status quo. Hopefully something was gained by everyone.
..to the next battle! Ask your congressperson to pass the teacher funding bill (amendment to Military Funding)...to be voted on est. next week...
Yes, there are employees that don't deserve the jobs they have and the union represents them just as fairly as it represents those that do. (Might I add, none of our union reps gets paid a dime for the countless hours they put in to assist the rest of us. Yet they are the first that we turn to when we want to piss, moan or cry about something.)
Teachers, we should be madder than h@#l that our union leadership has put us in the position we are in. We are the face that our public sees in our school system, and we have been made out to look like a bunch of self-centered, selfish children. Yes, we make a decent wage, if you can put a price on our childrens' education, and we often have to cover costs of supplies and such out of our own pockets. But, why are we voting on wage increases, when people are losing jobs?! As educators, one would think we would have the common sense and decency to figure that one out. Are we that self-centered?
We need to unite, teachers AND classified, and make our voices heard to the government, public & the "Fat Pockets!"
Read more: Tracy Press - Union school district agree to concessions
How about NO money for 'cost-of-living adjustments'. Times are tough; no pay raises. With government employees earning more and more than their civilian counterparts and unions forcing the government to provide pay-raises despite the economy, it's about time that everyone tighten their belt. If you don't like the pay, don't be a teacher. I'm sorry, but you're not slave labor. You can quit.
Wrong. This is why the Tentative Agreement being voted on today NEEDS TO FAIL: how many are claiming these Riff'd teachers are going to be called back no matter what? This news says there is a hiring freeze.
Are you for a RAISE or for JOBS? Do you want to help others, or yourself? Most realize that saving jobs means life will also be easier for EVERYONE: less involuntary transfers, less class sizes, less site upheaval.
John: your backwards upside down thinking is what our problem is at TEA> Let's not help our fellow district and educators as a team. CSEA is a model. TEA is a mess. VOTE NO!
Sounds to me that there are way too many union fat cats lining their pockets at the expense of teachers and the kids.