Since our new Board was seated on December 13, 2022, we have had nine Board Meetings and we have another one scheduled for next Monday, February 13th. With all this activity, I thought I would provide a slightly more comprehensive update of what has been happening at the District.
Superintendent Search
The Board has selected the search firm Executive Support Services Group (ESS) to help the District recruit a new superintendent. I expect that we will have a new superintendent under contract well before the beginning of the next school year. Until we complete this process, Tina Douglas has agreed to remain our Interim Superintendent.
Our Board has not created a committee to shepherd the selection process, which tells me that it may be managed by the entire Board through private discussions during closed-sessions at our Board meetings.
Our approach is likely to be conducted confidentially and outside the public eye. The public will not know who applies, will not be able to review resumes, will not be able to conduct any research on candidates, and will not be able to interview semi-finalists. At best, the public can expect its role to be limited to meetings where they can express desired characteristics of a new superintendent, which will then consist of a generalized wish list.
I would prefer to follow the process of other districts, such as San Diego Unified, Rancho Santa Fe, and Solana Beach who use a stakeholder advisory committee to provide more significant input. I will be advocating for greater stakeholder input which, in my view, increases the likelihood of selecting the best leader for our District.
Education Performance
Associate Superintendent for Educational Services Bryan Marcus has reported on the District’s performance on our key mission – educating our students. At the next Board meeting this coming Monday, February 13th, Bryan will take us through the “California Dashboard” of performance measures. I look forward to the presentation on Monday. A copy of his presentation is attached to the Board Agenda, under Item 7D.
Union Labor Contracts
The District has two major labor unions, the San Dieguito Faculty Association (SDFA) that represents certificated teachers, and the California School Employees Association (CSEA) that represents our “classified staff”, which is most of the rest of our employees. Each union enters into a Master Agreement with the District that addresses wages, benefits, working conditions, and more. Our existing agreements have a term of three years and cover the period July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2024.
Despite having these agreements, the District has a practice of finalizing new contracts only after existing ones expire, and even then, they often negotiate annual pay raises while the contract is still active.
For example, the SDFA contract for the three-year period ending June 30, 2024, was not completed until October 2022, nearly 16 months after the old contract expired. Yet compensation increases were made retroactive all the way back to July 1, 2021.
Although we now have a contract that will cover next school year as well, the union will likely come back to ask for an off-cycle increase for next year that is over-and-above the increases already agreed to in the contract.
You will see a report at this coming Monday’s Board meeting showing that we are now forecasting a deficit for this school year of over $8 million. Before this school year is complete, we will see a multi-year forecast showing deficit spending next year and the year after that. This is unsustainable and puts our entire District at risk.
At the December 13, 2022 Board Meeting the Board approved a nearly 20% increase in healthcare subsidy provided to teachers during consideration of an agenda item that was, unfortunately, processed illegally because the public was not provided information that they were entitled to see. Although the Board could have corrected this illegality by re-voting on the matter (this time providing the proper information to the public), the Board decided instead to issue what is called an “Unconditional Letter” that states that the District will not violate that part of the law going forward. This shields the District from lawsuits over this specific illegal behavior.
I will always try to do my best to publish a complete review of the District’s compensation expenses so that the public has a full understanding of our budget and financial health.
CSEA Labor Contract
A financial analysis indicates that the contract with the SDFA provides a total compensation package to teachers that is ~15% over the local market, with an average total compensation cost per SDFA member of about $169,000 per year.
However, I believe the current contract with the CSEA classified staff is close to market, or even below market for our lower-paid jobs, as evidenced, for example, by our difficulty in attracting and retaining bus drivers, nutrition services staff, and other jobs.
As such, I advocated for a significant increase in wages for these employees, and the Board agreed with my recommendation. A full accounting will be described at the March Board meeting, but many employees will begin being paid at a rate that is more than 11% more than they were earning last year.
I recognize that this will put greater strain on our annual operating financial results, but we cannot serve our students without the appropriate support staff and the understaffing situation has become untenable in several departments. Of equal importance, we must continually look for operating efficiencies and hold the line on pay increases for positions that offer above-market wages.
Capital Spending and Site Improvements
Years ago, voters approved the issuance of bonds to fund capital projects in the District, known as “Prop AA Bonds.” The amount of funds allowed to be raised by the District was capped at the lower of 1) A maximum total dollar amount of borrowing, or 2) a maximum amount to be paid in property taxes per $100,000 of assessed property value.
For several years the constraint against additional borrowing was #2 – taxpayers were paying the maximum allowed of $25 per $100,000 of assessed value. Before 2021, the District did not anticipate having the ability to borrow additional funds for perhaps 10 or more years.
However, a decline in interest rates allowed the District to refinance the outstanding obligations and lower the cost of borrowing, such that the cap of $25 per $100,000 was no longer a constraint. The District sold the remainder of the authorized bonds in May 2021. This provided the District with +/- $80 million of funds available for capital projects.
This means that the District received what was effectively a surprise windfall of about $80 million that must be spent in the near term. The District’s facilities team worked with site staff to identify projects at each of our schools, and the Board held a meeting on February 6, 2023 to receive a status update on the planned projects. Anyone interested in seeing the projects can review the presentation here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vvwzz40xpseskck/Capital%20Projects%20Update%202023%2002-06-23.pdf?dl=0
There are substantial projects planned throughout the District using funding from multiple sources. This will be an exciting couple of years as our physical plant is upgraded.
Board Governance
In January, the Board held a meeting to discuss our governance policies and procedures and agree to updated rules and regulations on how we operate as a Board, which generally includes the process of creating and running our meetings.
For example, at our first meeting we agreed on how and when a Board Trustee can place an item on the Agenda of a Board Meeting. At Monday’s meeting we will start to address the rules of running our Board Meeting, such as when a Trustee can be recognized, ensuring that they are not interrupted when speaking, and when we limit debate before voting. This may seem simple to the public, but it is important to ensure that the public is informed, and we avoid violating the myriad of laws we must follow.
Future Agenda Items
I look forward tackling important issues at future meetings before the school year is completed. For example, I would like to focus on:
Transparency – Increasing transparency in all we do and utilizing the District’s website to provide clear and open information.
Student Restrooms – Improving the safety and hygiene at our school restrooms
Ombudsman – Creating the position of Ombudsman to advocate for parents
Foundations – Transparency and targeted gifting