NUSD Plans to End Furloughs, Extend 2013-14 School Year

BY BRANDY TUZON BOYD
THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz

The Natomas Unified School District has announced plans to roll back mandatory furlough days for teachers this fall.

According to a letter sent Wednesday night by Superintendent Chris Evans to the community, the Natomas district will see an influx of $2.4 million of ongoing funding as part of the state’s proposed budget.

The plan is to use a portion of these funds to extend the school year at its traditional school campuses by five days and restore one professional development day for teachers, if approved by the Natomas Teachers Association, Evans wrote.

The news came as a pleasant surprise to teachers’ union leadership, who said they were not aware the district’s 2013-14 budget plan presented at a school board meeting Wednesday night included restoring unpaid furlough days.

Teachers and classified employees have had unpaid furlough days for the past four years, since the 2009-10 school year, union leaders said.

“It looks like excellent news for the students and staff,” NTA president Kristen Rocha said. “I will have a better understanding after we’ve had a chance to see the proposals – but it sounds promising and positive.”

Facing a budget shortfall in August 2009, the district laid off dozens of teachers and implemented furlough days for all its employees. Teachers, classified employees and managers took unpaid furlough days and managers even saw a freeze to their on annual step-and-column pay raises.

Manager furlough days were phased out under interim Superintendent Walter Hanline more than a year ago. And restoring teacher furlough days opens the door for classified employees – such as secretaries and custodians – to see an end to their unpaid furlough days.

“There could be an affect for CSEA,” Evans told THE NATOMAS BUZZ. “They have a ‘me too’ clause in their contract that if something gets restored to the NTA, then they will be eligible to negotiate. All should be moving forward on negotiations for classified employees heading into the next two months.”

Classified employee union representatives confirmed a “me too” language notice and request to bargain had been submitted to the Natomas Unified School District on Thursday.