The California School Employees Association Chapter 745 announced last week, that its membership voted to reject the tentative agreement with the Natomas Unified School District.The agreement, if ratified, would have been a major step toward avoiding state takeover and establishing fiscal solvency for the district.

On Jan. 11, the District and CSEA's Negotiations Team reached a tentative agreement with respect to furlough days for the 2011-12 school year, reflecting a 7.9 percent reduction in total compensation.

After negotiating with CSEA nine times since September, district officials said they were disheartened to hear of the rejection.

But to local CSEA Chief Negotiator and immediate past president Omega Brewer, the situation as presented by the district has been “marred with misinformation.” She said it's been a challenging process and that they have every intention on reaching an agreement.

The members wanted an agreement to reflect an equal cut across the board while taking into account how many days a year each person works, she said.

Brewer said the union agreed to the original concessions that the district now says they rejected. She said union members had agreed to a 7.9 percent cut, which equaled 15 to 19 furlough days but when the district came to the union with the supporting documents to have the agreement ratified, it actually reflected 19 to 24 furlough days.

After talking with the district about the discrepancy, Brewer said the district gave the excuse that it was a “calculation error.”

Superintendent Bobbie Plough said on Thursday that while there was an initial miscalculation, it was acknowledged and dealt with in a timely fashion.

“There were questions, and the district agreed to report back to the association. We did it as soon as we could … We made it a priority,” Plough said.

Brewer said the classified staff agreed to give 24 furlough days for this current year but part of agreement was to not backfill.

“Not only did Natomas Unified backfill (classified positions), they backfilled with substitute teachers at $300-$400 per day,” Brewer said.

That was an agreement that was assigned last year, and Plough is new to the district. The superintendent said that as soon as she was aware that was going on, the district immediately stopped the practice.

“I was shocked that was happening. It doesn't make any sense. When that came to my attention, I directed that to stop,” she said.

Brewer said that the union had every right to file unfair labor practice, but it didn't.

“There's not a lot of trust (of the district) from the classified perspective.... If you want things done right, you have to pay for that. There are employees willing to pay that cost. All this mismanagement hurts our children,” she said.

Asked if she feared what would happen if the state took over the district, Brewer said she doesn't know if the union members are scared. “Given actions that have gone on with this district, I don't know if it might be best.”

On Wednesday night, the district and the union worked on the issue again.

“It was a positive session,” Plough said. “I believe we have a structure of a tentative agreement that can be supported by the group.”

The sooner the parties come to an agreement, the better, she said, as for each passing day of not having a ratified agreement, the district moves closer to state takeover.

Earlier this year, the Natomas Teachers Association ratified a tentative agreement with the district that contained furlough days and certificated staff lay-offs totaling a 7.9 percent reduction in total compensation for the 2011-12 school year.

In November, the Board of Trustees approved a 7.9 percent reduction in total compensation during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years for all district management and unrepresented staff.

Last month, Assemblyman Richard Pan said he is required to ask the Legislature for a state “take-over bill,” which he then called a “holding position.” At the time, he recommended that unions and staff make concessions three years out.

http://sacramentopress.com/headline/46012/Assemblyman_Pan_leads_Natomas_Unified_town_hall_meeting

Monica Stark can be reached at monica.stark@sacramentopress.com