Dear CUSD Community,
The Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) and Capistrano Unified Education Association (CUEA), which represents certificated employees including teachers, have been involved in contract negotiations since June, 2009.
The Board of Trustees and negotiating teams have worked continuously, up to this point, through this process. Specific information regarding the negotiations process can be found on the district¡¦s website at www.capousd.org.
We now find ourselves at a time of year when some of our most important work with students lies before us. Trustees have reflected on where we are, what lies before us, and feel it is in the best interest of our district to move forward with finalizing the negotiations process.
At its meeting on Wednesday, March 31, the Board of Education will consider the adoption of a resolution to unilaterally implement limited provisions from its pre-impasse proposal which:
Maintain class size
Preserve teachers¡¦ jobs
Provide a balance of temporary and ongoing financial savings
Recognize concerns of the CUEA bargaining team
The advisory recommendations included within the fact-finding report were utilized to modify the provisions of the pre-impasse proposal as outlined below.
Provisions of the resolution include:
2009-10 (current school year)
Reduce CUEA unit members¡¦ paid work year by four days including:
The last day of the unit member¡¦s contract (non-instructional day)
The Friday before Memorial Day
Two additional student instructional days to be determined collaboratively with CUEA
There is no mention of a retroactive 10% pay cut
2010-2011 School Year
Reduce the CUEA unit members¡¦ paid work year by five days (three non-instructional/two student days)
Maintain district contributions to Health Benefits at the 2010 (HMO Plan) or 2009 (POS Plan) levels as follows:
HMO Employee $4,901.90
Employee +1 $10,132.40
Employee +family $14,412.20
POS/PPO Employee $5,840.70
Employee +1 $12,111.10
Employee +family $17,241.80
There is a desire to maintain a high quality affordable health plan for certificated employees and their families
Suspend salary increases due to Step & Column movement for one half of the 2010-2011 school year (a temporary provision)
Reduce CUEA members¡¦ salaries by 3.7% beginning July 1, 2010
As closely as possible, the resolution implements the recommendations of the neutral fact-finding report released to the public on March 17th. With a spirit of compromise, the district has worked diligently to balance its fiduciary responsibility to the community with the educational needs of our students and the high value we all place on our certificated employees.
The same fact-finding report indicated that CUSD has the ¡§inability to pay¡¨ at current levels and recommended a 10.32% concession in total compensation. The breakdown of savings over the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years is as follows:
4 Furlough Days (2009-2010) 2.16%
5 Furlough Days (2010-2011) 2.70%
3.7% Salary Reduction 3.70%
Health & Welfare 0.81%
Step & Column Suspension 0.74%
10.1%
We expect these unprecedented financial difficulties to negatively affect our budget for the next three years. The above delineated compensation concessions required of teachers and other non-management certificated personnel represent the necessary CUEA share to balance the 2010-2011 budget, which has a projected deficit of $34 million. Negotiations are still in process with other employee groups.
Sixty percent of California¡¦s actual budget cuts came from public education. We have to make difficult decisions which require valued employees to make personal sacrifices. This is in no way reflective of the high respect and regard we hold for the certificated employees of our district, but rather an outcome of the unprecedented turmoil in our global, national and state economies.
We hope for better times and working together to continue to provide and take pride in the award winning, high profile programs and services CUSD teachers and support personnel ensure for our students and their families.
