Proposal for the ORSB FY2010 Budget Adjustments

I submitted the following to the ORSB this evening. The formatting isn’t as pretty as it should be, but it’s been a very long day, so this is what you get.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
Propose that all staff be afforded a 1% pay raise in lieu of a step increase and that the school system forego the $135,000 request for additional funds from the city as they exceed the city’s proposed model. Further propose that a one-time, across-the-board bonus of $500 be afforded to all staff as well. Funding sources are detailed on the following pages and include both re-allocation of funds as well as the use, if necessary, of fund balances other than reserves or the instructional contingency fund.

IMPACT
If accepted into the budget, these steps will accomplish 3 important goals:

1. All staff will benefit from a much-deserved, all be it, small, pay increase that will have an indefinite impact on their salaries for the remainder of their tenure; whereas a step increase will only benefit ½ (some 185.4 teachers – 104.8 of which did not receive any form of raise or increase last year) and even fewer support staff.

2. All staff will benefit from a one-time bonus that, since it will be non-recurring, can be deducted from one of the many fund balances not appropriated within this year’s budget (see Funding Sources)

3. Taxpayers will be spared an additional financial burden which they surely do not need during such tumultuous economic times.

Note that all of these adjustments are proposed to be accomplished without impacting the state-required reserves currently projected at $1.4 million or the $150K instructional contingency fund.

ITEMIZED EXPENDITURES

-$62,175 1% raise in lieu of step increase ($397,831step increase – $335,116)
+$135,000 additional city funding
+$426,250 $500 bonus (known base cost of $341,000 + 25% for taxes, benes, etc)
+$167,558 1% raise for non-licensed staff (data not available, based on ½ of 1% raise for licensed staff)
$666,633

ALTERNATIVE FUNDING SOURCES

+$68,355 Over projected teacher salaries – (see Model 1 below)
+$??????? Over projected non-licensed staff salaries*
+$123,125 25% of anticipated, but not yet materialized, state funding $492,502**
+$45,000 Eliminate the 50% increase for Legal Services Line Item 72310 331***
+$75,000 Unused amount from FY09 Instructional Contingency Line Item 71900 599
+$39,325 Eliminate Line Item 72320 161 Superintendant Secretary****
+$95,653 Correct imbalance of Line Item 71150 116 – the replacement of a
position should not yield a 33% increase****
>$446,458

*Data not available, but reference the Superintendent’s secretary salary line item as an example which is unchanged even though the position will be filled in FY10 at the same rate of pay. Up to 20 other support positions are expected to back-filled as well. It is reasonable to expect that many of those salaries will be significantly lower than they were previously.

** Note that the administration has expressed confidence that at least SOME portion of the state funding will be reinstated as it has in years past.

*** Explanation for increase provided: Budget was increased to come closer to costs for legal services.

****Do not backfill vacant position and combine usage of the 3 secretaries under Line Item 72210 161 (includes Asst Superintendent Secretary)

****Line item for the Alternative Schools teachers increased by 33% ($95,653). According to the administration: “The teachers (7) are listed in their state reporting (RMS & HS) locations. We will change to report them in Alt program to ease confusion. Alt Program Administrator will be replaced at unknown cost.”

Miscellaneous Fund Balances
$851,000 Verified Balance of Fund Balance Line 30000 by Ms. Gagliano 3/13/09
$861,838 Verified Balance of ERR Fund by Ms. Gagliano 3/13/09
$??????? Other fund balances not provided
>$1,712,838

SUMMARY ANALYSIS REGARDING SALARY LINE ITEMS
I posed the following questions to the ORSB and Ms. Gagliano:

With 18 licenses staff to replace, why don’t the salary line items reflect a significant decrease since they will most likely be replaced with much lower pay rates? Should they not be even lower considering the number of staff replaced last year with new, lower paid employees?

and

I understand that Dr. Bailey’s secretary will be among those being replaced; however, the salary for her position remains unchanged. Since she was nearing retirement and you would logically replace her with someone at a lower pay scale, how come the pay is not decreased?

The responses provided are as follows, respectively:

Budget is prepared based on current staff as credentials of replacements are unknown at this time.

The salary remains unchanged to account for market and compression factors as well as the unknown credentials of potential candidates.

My research yields the following:

According to the currently proposed FY10 budget, Base Teacher Salary Totals for Line Items 71100, 71150, 71200, 71300 sub-section 116 are as follows:

08/09 Approved 09/10 Proposed
$18,519,911 $18,959,334

For FY10, to date, 10 licensed staff that are scheduled to retire, and 6 licensed staff that are resigning and 2 licensed staff that will be non-renewed Total: 18

The teacher salary schedule reflects a pay range of $34,443-$66,819. The difference between a first year, BS level pay of $34,443 and last year’s system wide average of $55,000 is $20,557. Note that the difference between first year, BS level pay and a 15 year MS+10 ($58,553) (noting that 78% holding advanced degrees) is $24,110.

Using the conservative figure of $20,557 difference, for FY10, that approximate average difference in salaries for 18 licensed staff would equate to $370,026 (18x 20,557).

Using the more likely figure of $24,110, that difference would equate to $433,980

Those figures averaged = $402,003

Salary Differentials – Model 1
$18,519,911 08/09 Approved Amount for Teachers Line Items 71100, 71150, 71200,
71300 sub-section 116
– $402,003 Salary difference (averaged) between 18 outgoing and 18 incoming
teachers
+ $278,703 Projected Additional Hires (p ii)
+ $397,831 Step Increases for ½ of all licensed staff
+ $ 62,094 Other Salary Increases (Band moves, reclassifications, etc)
$18,856,536 ($102,798 less than the proposed budget amount of $18,959,334)

$102,798
-$34,443 for additional 2nd grade teacher not included in proposal (estimate salary at entry level)
$68,355

Using the same model above, but replacing the step increase with a 1% across-the-board raise:

Salary Differentials – Model 2
$18,519,911 08/09 Approved Amount for Teachers Line Items 71100, 71150, 71200,
71300 sub-section 116
– $402,003 salary difference (averaged) between 18 outgoing and 18 incoming teachers
+$278,703 Projected Additional Hires (p ii)
+$335,116 1% raise including benefits
+ 62,094 Other Salary Increases (Band moves, reclassifications, etc)
$18,793,821 ($165,513 less than the proposed budget amount of $18,959,334)

$165,513
-$34,443 for additional 2nd grade teacher not included in proposal
$131,070

Conclusion: On the very low end, there appears to be approximately $402, 003 over projected funding for teacher’s salaries. Given the models above, the un-appropriated funds yield between $68,355-$131,070 that can be reallocated elsewhere.