Dear Members:
This year has been one of the most challenging budget years since the 07-08 great recession. At the second interim, CCUSD presented a budget where our end of year reserves would be at 2.2% of our total budget. The state and county require all school districts to end the year with a reserve of 3%. The district is now required to present a fiscal stabilization plan to the county showing cuts to get CCUSD to the 3% minimum reserve. The recent position cuts approved by the board a few weeks ago and Dr. Lucas & Cabinet email sent yesterday is how the district plans to address the shortfall. They are also working on ways to increase revenue and have increased some revenue through renegotiation of leases on district property.
One question we have been asked has been are current stipends and class size overage pay part of the cuts? The answer is no. Anything that has been negotiated between CCFT and CCUSD which are in our contract and on the schedule H stipend table won't be touched as they were legally negotiated items done at the bargaining table.
The other question is how did we get here? There are multiple factors as to why the district is in this situation. First is a revenue problem. CCUSD has lost revenue due to declining enrollment, lower average student daily attendance, lower state funding and one time Covid funds that have expired. Secondly there is a spending problem, previous administrations and boards had approved budgets that included keeping positions that were paid for with one-time funding that had expired or was due to expire, outside contracts, increased substitute costs, increased special education costs, extra pay that was not negotatiated nor budgeted, and overall inflationary day to day operating costs.
A final question is how does the recent news about the Federal Government trying to close down the Department of Education affect us? Potentially this could be devastating to our district and districts across the country as Federal money is used to fund TK-12 programs like Special Education and Title One. Although the recent executive order signed by the President stated those areas would not be touched at this time, massive staffing cuts to that department could result in delays and other issues with funding. Our national union AFT is filing a lawsuit against the Administration for the attempt to reduce and/or close down the Dept. of Education, which can only be done by an act of Congress. AFT President Randi Weingarten's response to the Executive Order is "See you in court"!
Please feel free to reach out with questions and have a relaxful spring break!
In solidarity,
Ray Long
CCFT President
US History Teacher
Culver City High School