web powered by 
Home 
News Local News Schools may cut workdays
Schools may cut workdays
|
District proposes to talk to unions about cost-cutting The Del Norte County Unified School District may push to reduce classified employees’ work schedules by two days next school year. On Thursday, district officials will seek guidance from the School Board on whether to propose the action in contract negotiations with the California School Employees Association. A similar work reduction may later be considered for teachers. Before it proposes such a plan to employees during closed-door negotiations, the district must get board approval and notify the public in a process called “sunshining,” said district Superintendent Jan Moorehouse. “It’s a negotiation technical term,” she said. “We have to make sure it is ‘sunshined’ and everyone knows it’s happening. We’re going public with that it will be discussed just with CSEA.”
Moorehouse anticipates “sunshining” the same topic with the Del Norte Teachers Association in April.
Classified employees include most district workers who are not teachers or administrators, such as bus drivers, custodians and secretaries. Once the issue is “sunshined,” the district and the CSEA can include the possible cutback in their negotiations. Connie Reidel, president of the CSEA, said union members have talked about the concept of having two days removed from their work year. Because the district and CSEA are still in negotiations, she declined to comment further, except to say the union will bring some other money-saving ideas to the negotiation table. By reducing employees’ salaries by those two days, the district could be able to hire back some or all of those who received layoff notices earlier this month, Moorehouse said. If an accord cannot be reached with the unions, “we’ll have to go other places,” she said. “We’re trying to save as many employees as possible.” The two unions’ three-year contracts expired last June. Negotiations for the new contracts have been on-going for most of the school year. Employees are still working under the old contracts. Another cost-savings concept the board could discuss Thursday is making Del Norte schools more energy efficient. While the district does have a policy in place to conserve energy and waste, Moorehouse said she wants to open up the discussion for more ways to be efficient and save money in utility costs. “I’m going to talk to the board about options and making sure we’re not wasting money on electricity, gas, water and garbage,” Moorehouse said. The School Board will also hear a report on “Every 15 Minutes,” a program to educate teenagers on the dangers of drinking and driving. The premise is that every 15 minutes someone dies in a drunk-driving accident. The district is planning to start this program in May. “It’s a very, very intense two-day participatory activity,” Moorehouse said. Local high school students will witness a mock accident acted out by students on the Del Norte High School football field where someone will “die,” she explained. Moorehouse added that the board may discuss the liabilities of having a California Highway Patrol helicopter take the “dead” or “dying” student away. |
