Crowd is hot over pay freeze in Chaska

An overflow crowd, many dressed in red as a sign of solidarity, packed the Eastern Carver County school board meeting and called on the board to postpone a decision on budget cuts that include an unusual measure -- a "hard freeze" on all district staff pay, including teachers' annual raises.

"I urge you to work with [the teachers] and take all the time that's necessary to come up with a plan that preserves the biggest asset that this district has, and that's the teachers," said parent Kyle Tidstrom.

But board members, citing the urgency of a projected $5 million budget gap for next year, moved forward anyway and unanimously approved the budget cuts Thursday night. The pay freezes are still subject to union negotiations.

The longer a decision is delayed, the less time budget managers have to determine what they'll fund and what they'll cut, said district Finance Director Steve Pumper.

Superintendent David Jennings said the district needs to start making decisions soon about staffing allocations for next school year. And regardless of the budget cuts, some staff positions will be eliminated, he said.

"We know there's going to be an impact on some people, and the sooner we can tell them the better."

As a "good faith effort," the superintendent also asked the board to amend his contract to freeze his pay at its current level of $182,000 for the next two years, eliminating his annual 3 percent raises and 5 percent incentive bonuses. The board agreed.

The superintendent's cabinet members also will ask the board to freeze their wages at an upcoming board meeting.

The budget proposal that seems to be hitting the hardest is the pay freeze that would eliminate not only cost-of-living raises but also seniority increases and raises for additional advanced degrees or training. The district is looking to save $1.66 million next year by freezing the wages and benefits.

The president of the Chaska Education Association pleaded with board members to ask the district's budget committee to remove the hard freeze.

"We have bargained in good faith for the mutual benefit of teachers and the school district," Tim Griffin said. "I believe that a hard freeze in the budget seriously damages that relationship. I'm certain we can find another way to solve this district's budget problems."

After hearing concerns from a few hundred district employees, students and community members at a recent forum, the overall budget proposal was revised to eliminate cuts to the fifth-grade band program and, as a tradeoff, cut the athletics and activities budget by another $100,000.

Jennings told the board he has heard that people assume there were things the budget committee didn't consider when creating the proposal. But Jennings said the panel looked at everything, from building closings to land sales.

And although those possibilities aren't on the cut list now, Jennings said he believes the funding situation could grow worse.

The preliminary budget assumes a zero-percent increase in state funding, but Jennings and some district administrators believe that is a "rosy scenario" and that funding is more likely to be cut 2 percent.

"We're facing a significant structural issue that's going to be with us for a period of four to five years," Jennings said. "I actually believe we'll be back at the budget table later this spring making downward adjustments from where we are today."

In 2006, voters approved a $92.9 million bond to build a new high school and a $3 million-a-year operating levy to open and operate it.

At least one teacher at the meeting argued that the district is being financially irresponsible. In addition to the new high school, the freshman center will be converted to a third middle school, and the high school curriculum is being redesigned at a cost of $2.2 million.

Monica Castaldi, a high school teacher, asked the board to hold off on the secondary redesign and make incremental changes instead.

"What saddens me is, we're really not in a financial crisis in this district. There are many other districts that are worse off than us," Castaldi said. "The only reason I can think for moving forward with the present design is pride."

Jennings said an interview that the bulk of the expenses for the secondary redesign are one-time costs -- the biggest expense is new textbooks for converting to a seven-period day.

But the more important reason for moving forward with the redesign is that it's the right thing to do for students, Jennings said.

"We have developed a plan that is far superior to what we're doing today," he said. "To withhold the transition and instead increase pay puts the problem of the recession on the kids rather than the adults. It's not their fault."

Aimée Blanchette • 612-673-1715