School District Expects to Save $1 Million With Salary Reductions

A new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the Monrovia Unified School District and its employee unions is expected to save the district more than $1 million over three years if approved Wednesday by the school board, according to a district official.

The agreement calls for the continuation of 3 percent salary reductions across the board for teachers and district employees and raises the healthcare contribution that employees must pay by nearly 167 percent.

Deputy Superintendent Debby Collins said in an email Tuesday that employee compensation is by far the greatest expense for the district.

"Approximately 87 percent of the total district general fund is attributed to employee compensation," Collins said. "When the district is forced to make severe cuts, as we are now, we must look at compensation."

She noted that all employees of the district, from teachers to administration officials, will have their salaries reduced. The salary reduction began this year and will continue through 2013.

Employees currently pay $30 per month toward their Aetna healthcare plan, according to district records. The new CBA increases that monthly contribution to $80. The increased contributions are expected to save the district $138,000 for 2011-2012, Collins said.

Anne Battle, the president of the Monrovia Teachers Association, did not return messages seeking comment on this story.

The district eliminated 35 jobs last month in another cost-cutting maneuver. Hours at middle school and elementary school libraries were slashed as part of that plan.

The district's ever-changing budget projections continue to fluctuate depending on state funding. Last month, Superintendent Linda Wagner said the cuts were necessary to close a projected $2.7 million deficit by 2013.

Currently, the district's budget would be balanced with all the recent cuts taken into account, but the situation remains precarious, Collins wrote.

"At present, before the State budget is approved, we do not have a $2.7 million deficit at the end of 2013," Collins wrote. "We are "balanced" with an unappropriated reserve of $19,012 at the end of 2013-2014. But ... that could change in a moment."