Schools' hard budget lessons

A contract clause allows salaries of Yuba City Unified teachers to be cut up to 18 percent, the deputy superintendent for business told trustees Friday — an announcement the teachers union labeled a threat.

"It's really difficult to see it as anything else," Dina Luetgens, president of the Yuba City Teachers Association, said after Baldev Johal's statement.

Johal, who spoke during a study session on proposed budget cuts, disputed Luetgens and said the language allowing the cut is on the school district's Web site.

"The board has that right," Johal said of reducing salaries as the district faces a budget shortfall of up to $6.2 million. "I'm bringing it to your attention."

He said his reference to the clause follows only the teachers union among employee groups in the school district failing to agree to a 2.7 pay reduction and freeze on scheduled salary increases.

Ty Pelfrey, a teacher at Gray Avenue Middle School, told trustees that Johal's statement "was nothing more than a public spanking of the teachers union." Luetgens said the contract language allowing the 18 percent cut was put in before she began as president of the local teachers union.

The clause, which Luetgens said is not common in teacher contracts in California, allows the school district to reduce teachers salaries by the same percentage as the loss in revenue to the school district.

She said Johal invoking the clause comes as Yuba City Unified teachers begin contract negotiations and have a longer workday, larger classes and less pay than Marysville Joint Unified teachers.

"We've been told year after year that Marysville is going to go broke," Luetgens said — adding that last year Marysville Joint Unified avoided layoffs.

Sharman Kobayashi, president of the board of trustees, said the deputy superintendent has the responsibility to inform trustees of the options they should consider.

Citing the long list of more than two dozen proposals to cut the budget, Kobayashi said, "We have a terrible task."

The lengthy Friday session added a new option: Saving $1.8 million by cutting prep periods for teachers at Yuba City, River Valley and Albert Powell high schools in the district. Powell is a continuation high school.

Trustees, who will take up the budget proposals formally when they meet again Tuesday, already had a proposed dissolution for prep periods of teachers at Gray Avenue and Andros Karperos schools. That would save $580,000, according to the school district.

Trustee James Ferreira said the proposals concern him.

"It's bad enough the pressure that's on people to get test scores up," Ferreira said of teachers.

He said cuts should be made further from the classroom.

"I would rather hurt at the file cabinet," Ferreira said of preferring reductions in administrative services.