Furlough MOU Update, #2

REA and OSEA met with the District again this week to discuss their proposed furlough days. As promised, the district brought an initial proposal but was otherwise light on specifics regarding some of the other concerns we have voiced. Below are highlights from the meeting:

• The District’s Proposal: Their draft MOU is geared mostly around which dates would be furloughed. Proposed dates still include teacher planning days and the first four days of school in September, both of which we indicated in the previous meeting as non-starters. We maintain that furlough days should be taken as late in the school year as possible to increase the likelihood they can be added back to the calendar. Their proposal did agree to reduce pay from each paycheck throughout the year in order to ease the financial impact. The proposal also includes some trigger language, which would restore days to the calendar if the District received increased funding. However, REA and OSEA feel the methods determining that increased funding are too limited and the thresholds that would reinstate days are too high. More work will be necessary.
  
  
• REA/OSEA Requests: The District is still ambiguous about what they would do if we do not agree to furlough days. At our last meeting we requested a detailed plan on cuts the District would make and to whom. We need to know what we are bargaining against. However, the District still has no concrete plan. In addition, we continue to advocate for more equitable cuts at the District Office level. They maintain that they need the current level of staffing to ensure “optimal” service. We responded that student-facing staff--with wide cuts and ballooning class sizes--will not be providing optimal levels of service, so why should the District? We maintain that the entire district should shoulder the weight equally!
  
  
• REA’s Financial Analysis: Bruce Scherer, our OEA representative, shared historical revenue and expenditure data from the previous 10 years in our district. We contend that, while the data clearly shows a need for cuts, the cuts the District has already made are enough to address the problem and we are not convinced furlough days are necessary at all. As is often the case, the disagreement is between the District’s own budget proposal and historical data supported by independent audits. 
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In short, there is still much work to do. REA and OSEA will be crafting a counter to the District’s MOU and will be meeting with them again on July 9th.