Cuts needed to pay teachers' salarie

Cuts needed to pay teachers' salaries

By Lynn Thompson
Times Snohomish County Bureau

Marysville school administrators' relief last week after reaching a tentative three-year contract agreement with teachers may be short-lived.

The district now must cut up to $1 million from the 2005-06 budget to pay for the salary increases and other anticipated costs.

The School Board will get a proposed budget outlining recommended cuts at its Aug. 1 meeting and is expected to adopt a budget Aug. 15 that incorporates the pay raises, several other new labor contracts and rising operating costs.

"No way do we want these cuts to happen at the classroom level," board member Michael Kundu said. "With the teachers contract settled, I think everyone wants to focus on the kids again."

Neither district officials nor union negotiators would discuss details of the agreement until teachers vote on it Aug. 27. But the district said the raises would be similar to the 1.5-to-4 percent annual increases in other Snohomish County districts.

In planning for the $89 million budget for 2005-06, district officials anticipated the costs of five labor contracts up for renewal in September, including a new teachers contract, Finance Director Jim Baker said.

But the expected cuts would follow $1.5 million in staff and program reductions made last year after the 2003 teachers strike.

The district also is operating with depleted cash reserves of $2.8 million and has set a goal of $5 million in reserves.

Still, district leaders and School Board members heralded the proposed accord with the teachers union, the Marysville Education Association, noting the contrast from talks in 2003, when the district's proposal to shift teachers to a state salary schedule and reduce the amount of pay funded by local levy dollars was at the heart of the strike.

Although current teachers would have been grandfathered in, the union said experienced teachers would have earned less under the district proposal. After the strike, voters turned out three School Board members. The new board bought out the remaining contract of then-Superintendent Linda Whitehead.

Also after the strike, teachers settled for a two-year contract that provided for 1.5 percent salary increases.

Superintendent Larry Nyland, who is completing his first year at the head of the 10,600-student district, said the new contract would be comparable to those in other county districts and competitive enough to attract new teachers.

Marysville teachers earn a base salary of between $28,701 and $55,864 paid by the state. They also receive district-paid compensation for out-of-classroom hours — known as time, responsibility and incentive (TRI) pay — that ranges from $3,930 to $8,365.

Lynn Thompson: 425-745-7807 or lthompson@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company