San Benito High School District officials postponed a response
to the contract proposal submitted by the teachers union Tuesday,
which they say would force the district to dip into red ink.
Hollister – San Benito High School District officials postponed a response to the contract proposal submitted by the teachers union Tuesday, which they say would force the district to dip into red ink.
San Benito High School teachers, who have been working without a contract for over a year, presented district officials with a new contract proposal last week, but district officials presented a cost analysis of the proposal Tuesday and did not make a counter offer, Superintendent Jean Burns Slater said.
“We weren’t prepared to make a counter offer,” she said. “Right now we just want to get a clear picture of our budget.”
Jim Koenig, who was hired this summer to serve as the district’s director of finance and operations, will be examining the high school’s June budget closely. He will be adjusting revenue and expenses as things such as enrollment numbers change, Slater said.
Teachers had requested scheduled pay raises, which they haven’t had for three years, and asked the district to maintain current health benefit plans at no additional cost to the teachers, SBHS California Teachers Association President Chuck Schallhorn said. Schallhorn and others were frustrated by the district’s delay.
“I know the district can afford this,” he said. “They’re choosing not to.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, the district’s chief negotiator Don Balfour presented teachers union officials with a cost analysis of their last proposal.
“Their proposal surpasses the new income that the district would receive,” Balfour said. “But, we got a lot of issues clarified and the meeting was productive.”
Discussion of monetary issues, such as scheduled salary increases and health benefits, will be postponed until district officials can recalculate the school’s budget, which Balfour said may take two to three weeks.
“We don’t feel that the present budget is accurate at this point,” he said. “In the meantime we have agreed to focus on (contract) language issues.”
Although it didn’t “reject” the contract, Balfour said the district would make the next move.
The postponement to look over the budget is not a stall tactic Slater said, but some are skeptical.
“I hesitate to assume malicious motives, but it’s difficult not to,” Schallhorn said.
Brett Rowland covers education for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected]
