Bargaining Update
Colleagues,
The spring weather hints at the promises of an up-coming summer break. I hope you are finding ways to take care of yourself as the hectic pace of end of the year activities increase.
I want to up-date you on the District’s financial situation and our work in negotiations. We have completed our formal work in our joint financial review team between SJTA and the District. Through our work, we were able to identify millions of dollars to be cut. However, a deficit remains due to the massive loss of revenue since 2007-2008.
The County Office of Education continues to require the District to budget for the worst-case scenario. Due to this requirement, our work at the negotiating table has been to create plans for multiple scenarios: the Governor’s initiative failing in November, it passing, and the many intermediate possibilities. The swing between these scenarios could mean a difference of $14-17 million to San Juan. However, pass or fail the financial picture in San Juan is grim.
If the Governor’s initiative passes, the District will still be on life support. Over the last five years, there have been no new revenues into the district, while the State has found creative ways to continually reduce funding. Meanwhile, expenditures continued to rise. The District is only surviving by having made tens of million in cuts over the last five years.
Upon the failure of the Governor’s initiative, a bleak financial picture emerges. It will bring such financial devastation to most districts that it would likely bring a proposal from the state to shorten the school year by 10 -15 days. Although this is a negotiable issue, given the circumstances it will be difficult to avoid.
How the Governor’s initiative will affect San Juan:
The District will maintain a positive ending balance for 2011-2012. The failure of the Governor’s initiative would cause a deficit of $800,000 for 2012-2013 and a deficit of $30 million in 2013-2014 (see chart below).
(Projected) |
|
Governor’s Initiative |
Governor’s Initiative |
2011-2012 |
$24,400,000 |
X |
X |
2012-2013 |
X |
-$800,000 |
+$16,000,000 |
2013-2014 |
X |
-$30,300,000 |
+$6,000,000 |
Two critical events have yet to unfold that may still affect the budget projections: the May Revise and the Budget Act (in June). At this time, SJTA is in negotiations with the District to identify possible budget solutions. We believe that it is likely that furlough days will be part of any agreement to address the districts financial difficulties. Any tentative agreement will include contingency language that allows for flexibility given the uncertainty of what May, June and November will bring.
SJTA remains acutely aware of the May 15 final layoff notice and at the same time works to craft an agreement that is thoughtful and considers many variables. Our goals remain the same, to dramatically reduce the number of people on the layoff list, minimize the impact to your pocketbook, and have a tentative agreement to present to you for ratification before the end of this school year.
In Unity,
Shannan Brown