Amid contract negotiations between the Coronado Unified School District (CUSD) board and the Association of Coronado Teachers (ACT) following a rejected demand for 10% more pay, Coronado educators are asking local school trustees to justify steep pay increases for an administrator over the past five years.
Before entering into a closed meeting at the June 20 district board meeting, an ACT teacher urged the board to consider prioritizing teacher salary increases, in light of the amendments to the deputy superintendent and superintendent contracts set to take place later in the meeting.
“Negotiations between ACT and CUSD are ongoing, and nothing has been agreed upon for certified and classified salaries,” said Katie Quinley, a teacher in Coronado for the past 13 years. “From 2018-2022, our deputy superintendent’s total pay has been increased by more than 40% – from about $160,000 to $216,000. Over essentially the same five-year period, from the 2018-19 school year to the 2023 school year, the average teacher’s salary pay for ACT increased by only 10.1%. We are hoping you prioritize teachers that are closest to the students when considering administrative evaluations, salary increases and finalizing our negotiations.”
While Quinley acknowledges the deputy superintendent’s title rose from assistant superintendent classified during that five year period, she said his main work as the head of business services has remained the same.
Later in the meeting, a motion was passed extending the deputy superintendent and superintendent contracts another year with a 2.5% salary increase.
In light of the budgeting plans, Donnie Salamanca said the negotiated annual salary step increases for teachers would be at minimum raised by 0.20% and at most by 6.72%.
With the 2024-25 adopted budget, the multi-year projection puts CUSD in about $700,000 of debt by the 2026-27 school year, which, according to Salamanca, is consistent with a long-range planning goal in anticipation of switching to a “basic aid” district.
Still to be presented to the County Office of Education for validation and approval, the multi-year projection raised some questions from the board.
“We have never submitted a negative budget before to the county, not in my eight years of being here,” said CUSD Board Member Renee Cavanaugh. “… How will the county accept it and how aggressive will they be in demanding that cuts or something happens? Will they hold off a little bit or will they come in guns blazing to get this to positive?”
Budget study committee meeting
At a budget study committee meeting earlier in the week, Salamanca said most of the district’s funding, under their current Local Control Funding Formula, is reliant on student enrollment, attendance and demographics.
“Unfortunately, enrollment trends, inter-district transfer applications and attendance yields do not appear to be rebounding as we previously hoped,” reads the 2024-2025 proposed budget document. “As a result, CUSD projects a downward adjustment in enrollment and attendance yields, resulting in decreased revenues.”
Salamanca said the district is projecting 2,800 students next year, a rise from the 2,770 enrollment this year.
The increase is due to the district’s acceptance of 150 inter-district transfer student applications, Salamanca said.
Those 150 students would allow the district about $1.2 million in additional revenue.
“If their attendance is 100%,” Salamanca noted.
But the district’s attendance yield has historically struggled to meet the 96% benchmark, with the exception of grade nine, shared Cavanaugh.
Revenue from student attendance brings in $10,000 to $11,000 across all grade spans, according to Salamanca.
The Coronado Middle School’s online website says the district loses $60 for every day a child is away from classes.
“The state is in declining enrollment. Our district is in declining enrollment. We’re adding kids knowing that in three years we’re not going to get money for them. We need that revenue now,” said Mueller.
The board adopted the 2024-2025 proposed budget.
CUSD has to submit their annual spending plan by June 30 to The County Office of Education, which the office can either approve, conditionally approve or disapprove. Salamanca suspects the CUSD budget is between approval and conditional approval, meaning they will work alongside the district to identify opportunities for more revenue or decreased expenditures.
Negotiations between the district and ACT stalled following a meeting on May 28.
The bargaining teams are still working to set a time for the next bargaining date, according to Salamanca and the union’s webpage.
The next regular board meeting is scheduled Aug. 22 at 4 p.m. in the CUSD board room.
In other news:
The Coronado School of the Arts (COSA) Foundation Board of Directors presented the district with a $150,000 check, thanking them for their support after a successful year for the arts. After building back up from the pandemic, each conservatory had the opportunity to display their talents and skills this past year. COSA will be welcoming in 60 new students, making the 2024-25 school year a 113% increase from the last.
