School District 55 has dropped a proposal to shorten the school year by three days.
Supt. Larry Horton had asked the teachers to consider cutting three days this school year to cover a possible $133,000 shortfall in funding next year.
That figure was based on a $4.55 billion budget for education statewide. He built the 2003-04 budget on a $4.8 billion estimate, a number that had been considered earlier this year by the legislature.
Talk coming out of Salem began predicting lower numbers like $4.55 billion or even lower, and Supt. Horton was concerned about covering the potential shortfalls.
After Supt. Horton raised the question two weeks ago, Gov. Ted Kulongoski offered a proposal for $4.9 billion, and the legislature was working with a $4.778 billion. Either amount would cover the budget Supt. Horton plans to propose this month, making it unnecessary to cut days this year.
The district and teachers had discussed cutting days earlier in the year but chose not to do it then because the estimated ending fund balance for the district was increasing with a freeze on non-essential spending and a waiver for special education that meant some $300,000 from the state. It was after this that the projected state education budget started dropping.
In response the proposal two weeks ago, the teachers association told Supt. Horton that they would agree to cutting the days if the district would forget talking about a possible wage freeze and use a portion of the money saved for salary increases next year.
Supt. Horton told the teachers the cuts would not be needed during negotiations Thursday night.
“If there is serious consideration of using three days in this school year, we have to decide real soon,” Supt. Horton said.
With the numbers for next year improving, “I don’t feel the need to cut the days this year,” Board Chairman Don Hopkins said.
“With the fact we’re okay with this year and we’re beginning the discussion for the next fiscal year and the next (contract), if we need to, we’ll take it up then,” Sweet Home Education Association President Joyce Baugus said. The teachers had believed the question of cutting days this year was settled two months ago.
Hopkins explained that the information the district was working with kept fluctuating.
If numbers decrease later this year, it will be too late to cut school days, Supt. Horton said. Cutting days now will become impractical.
The district and teachers started negotiations for their next contract on Saturday. Thursday night, they received training in “interest-based bargaining.”
Rather than taking positions and making offers and counteroffers, the two sides in the negotiations will talk about issues each side has, then the bargaining teams will discuss and settle on solutions.
The teachers’ contract ends on June 30. A new agreement would take effect on July 1. They negotiated a one-year contract last year because funding was so uncertain.