School District Employees Want More Furlough Days Restored

The ’s board of trustees will consider restoring more furlough days for its non-teaching employees—to the tune of $1.45 million—as part of a packed agenda at its meeting Monday.

The agenda includes several items that would affect the district’s bottom line, such as reopening negotiations with several of its employee groups, including the teachers; a $936,000 expenditure that wasn’t part of this year’s budget; and increased fees for student lunches and breakfasts for next year.

Despite receiving additional money it had not anticipated from the Oct. 8-approval of a statewide budget, the district needs to . Additionally, the district is looking to . The district has already notified at least 346 teachers, nurses, psychologists and counselors—of whom 334 are teachers—that their .

Still, the staff is recommending that the board approve additional workdays for the classified employees—who have non-teaching positions—such as aides, office support and campus supervisors. By the time the board hears the request, all of the requested reinstated furlough days for this school year will have passed.

"There are still furlough days at the end of the school year that could be restored for CSEA [California School Employees Association] members," said district spokesman Marcus Walton. 

The classified employees' current contract, which trustees approved Sept. 28, 2010, calls for restoration of furlough days should the district receive more than it had anticipated in January 2010.

The 2010-11 state budget, which then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger finally signed Oct. 8, gave the district $11.5 million more than envisioned in January 2010. The CSEA contract requires that the classified employees receive 17.5 percent of the windfall.

In a controversial move, Superintendent Joseph Farley said the to restore two school days to the academic calendar. The staff report regarding restoration of additional days for classified employees said the actual restoration occurred in January, although at the Jan. 11 meeting, the publishing of a new calendar was presented as a housekeeping, administrative item.

Regardless of when the restoration took place, it costs the district $224,119 a day, or $448,238 in total, to cover the classified employees, according to a March 16 staff report.  The additional three days the classified employees’ union now seeks this year and the 3½ days CSEA wants restored next year would cost $1.45 million for a total of $1.9 million. 

However, the financial boost may be short-lived. Although the district has agreements in place with all of its employee groups through June 2012, the contracts give both the district and the individual bargaining units the ability to reopen two articles. Last month, the board announced it would .

The teachers’ union, Capistrano Unified Education Association, sent a letter to the district March 28 saying it would like to revisit health and welfare benefits.

The district is also seeking to reopen negotiations with the classified employees and the employees represented by the Teamsters. Specifically, the district wants to discuss a reduction in wages and hours.

Also on Monday’s agenda is:

• A proposal to increase the cost of lunches and breakfasts. The increases—prompted by new requirements for and also rising fuel costs—would affect elementary students the most, where the costs of breakfasts will go from $1.50 to $1.75 and lunches from $2.25 to $2.50. Middle school breakfasts will increase from $1.75 to $2, while lunch prices and all high school meals will not change. This is the first proposed change to meal prices since the 2008-09 year.
• An agreement with the Orange County Health Care Agency to continue providing mental health services to students, at a cost of $936,000 for the months of April, May and June. Then-Gov. Schwarzenegger had , even though federal law requires the school districts to provide them. Since Jan. 1, the Orange County Department of Education had been reimbursing the Health Care Agency for its costs with federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funds, which are now exhausted. Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed 2011-12 budget would reinstate state funding, which pays for everything from outpatient counseling to residential treatment programs.