Central Bucks Schools to Shed 120 Employees

About 120 Central Bucks School District employees - including about 50 teachers and 37 bus drivers - will be shed from the payroll before the next school year to help balance the budget amidst a "disastrous" economic climate.

The announcement, made at Tuesday night’s school board meeting, seemed to stun the overflow audience. But the job cuts are just the beginning of a series of cost-reducing moves that will alter Central Bucks schools for the forseeable future, superintendent N. Robert Laws said.

"This represents $5 million in personnel cuts to this district," Laws told the school board, administrators and audience of hundreds of school teachers and bus drivers. "That is going to begin to change the face of Central Bucks."

The layoffs continue a trend that has affected the district since the beginning of the recession. With revenues dwindling, the district has lost 223.5 staff positions since the 2008-2009 school year.

"And still we’re unable to balance the budget," Laws said, "and still we must raise taxes, and still we must take money out of the bank to ensure the continuation of the district."

"I’ve been in this district a long time, in education a long time," he said. "It has never been this bad. It is clearly the most significant financial catastrophe we’ve faced."

Jobs Cut Across the Board

Some of the people who are losing their jobs - including the 37 bus drivers - knew as they walked into the school board meeting room Tuesday night that their jobs were on the line.

But the cuts extend far beyond the drivers, as the crowd of hundreds learned as the district's budget presentation unfolded.

"We have to shed people. There’s no other way to do this," Laws said, putting a graph outlining the positions to be cut up on the screen. "This is the first installment of that."

The positions will be cut at all levels, including administration, professional and support staff, Laws said. They also will be cut from all departments.

The largest group being cut is teachers, who will lose 43.6 positions in regular education and 6 in special education. Another 15 administrative support positions also are being cut.

All told, the district will furlough, outsource or eliminate 120.8 full-time equivalent positions, Laws said.

"There are names attached to every one of these positions," Laws said, gesturing at the chart on the presentation screen. "That's not a good thing."

Some of the teaching jobs will be shed through attrition. About 20 teachers are expected to retire at the end of this school year and won't be replaced, Laws said after the meeting.

The people losing their jobs - apart from the bus drivers - don't know yet, Laws told the crowd. After the meeting, he said he hoped to be able to let them know by the second or third week in May.

In the case of the teachers, those furloughed are at the bottom of the seniority list, he said. Their direct supervisors will tell them in person that they're being let go, Laws said. Those furloughed will remain on a recall list and could be offered jobs back in upcoming years if jobs open up, typically due to retirements, maternity leaves and similar changes.

As for the bus drivers, Laws said they are the only ones who will be guaranteed jobs.

The district to the school bus service company First Student. As part of its agreement with the Cincinnati, OH-based company, the district is requiring the company to hire the drivers it is laying off, Laws said.

But driver Bernie DeMarco said the pay is lower and the health benefits at First Student can't compare to the package offered by Central Bucks.

"I know the budget is a mess right now," she said during the public comment part of the meeting, imploring the board to try to find a way to keep them on. "But we love our jobs; we want to keep our jobs."

Outsourcing the 37 drivers is expected to save $150,000 in salary and benefits, business administrator David Matyas said after the meeting.

As painful as the cuts are, Laws said they are necessary to preserve the district's core mission of providing world class curriculum and instruction.

Budget Increases Taxes, Dips into Rainy Day Fund

The $280.6 million preliminary budget approved by the board Tuesday night calls for a $2.5 million reduction in expenditures compared to the current year. Still, it requires a 1.34-percent property tax increase and uses just over $3 million in fund balance.

Laws said the budget is the beginning of a fundamental change in the way the district conducts business.

“We can’t cut expenses fast enough to keep up with the loss of revenue we’re experiencing,” said Laws. “We’re simply not getting the money into the district.” 

The revenue drain has been across the board.

Property tax revenue will take a $620,000 hit in 2011-2012, which comes on the heels of a $540,000 loss in the current year.

State revenue is down $4 million.

If approved, the tax increase would cost the owner of a property assessed at the district average of $40,000 an additional $64 next year.

The board is scheduled to adopt the final budget on May 24.

The budget will be available on the district's website soon, Laws said.

In addition to the job cuts and tax increase, Laws said there will be no new initiatives, no borrowing and a freeze on construction.

Though not mentioned specifically, that moratorium could include

Board members decried both Bucks County government's denial of the district's appeal of property reassessments and Gov. Tom Corbett's state budget, which slashes funds for education.

If the cuts to schools continue and districts are forced to eliminate programs in the next few years just to survive, Pennsylvania will suffer, board member Geryl McMullin predicted.

"People will not want to move here. We become a state that people want to move out of," she said, as someone in the crowd called out 'That's right.' "This is the beginning of the demise of the state of Pennsylvania."

Board president Paul Faulkner praised Laws and Matyas for their work.

"I don’t envy you for what you have to do," Faulkner said. "This is what the current economic situation has presented us with. It’s a yeoman effort to keep us where we are."

What Will Schools Look Like in Coming Years?

Laws predicted the Central Bucks School District will look very different in 10 years.

There may be no athletics programs, no school nurses, he said after the meeting.

Community organizations may have to step in to provide programs the school district offers now. Volunteers also will likely play a more prominent role if teachers, parents and students want certain programs to continue.

"We cannot continue to do it all," said Laws. "We simply have run out of resources."

To begin the radical transformation, Laws said the district will consider implementing several short-term savings programs starting in September, including: 

• Hiring only part-time support staff to avoid offering benefits;
• Asking employees to work fewer hours during the summer and take a commensurate salary reduction;
• Seeking a new copier contract;
• Negotiating lower property, casualty and auto insurance premiums;
• Increasing fees for parking and facilities use;
• Negotiating a more favorable natural gas supply contract;
• Modifying graduation requirements and redesigning the graduation project;
• Offering high school elective courses only every other year; and
• Reducing curriculum and athletic budgets.

For longer-term savings, the district will study:

• Extra curricular activities;
• Offering an intra-district only middle school sports program;
• High school security and custodial staffing levels;
• Class size policies;
• Physical Education graduation requirements;
• Allowing corporate sponsorships of programs; and
• Restructuring collective bargaining agreements.

The board took a step in that direction Tuesday night when it approved a five-year contract with the union representing support staff employees. 

The deal eliminates the salary schedule and instead establishes a market value minimum and maximum pay for all positions in the bargaining unit, which includes secretaries, custodians, educational assistants and security guards. 

For the first two years of the contract, employee salaries are frozen. In the next three years, employees who are earning below market value will receive 2 percent raises, while those above market value will receive 1 percent increases.

The contract also requires employees working under a 10-month contract to pay 10 to 24 percent of the cost of medical benefits, depending on the plan they choose, while 12-month employees will pay between 10 percent and 20 percent of their healthcare costs, depending on the plan.

The school board thanked the support staff union for its willingness to recognize the district’s dire financial condition.

“It was more of a problem solving meeting” than it was negotiations, said board member Stephen Corr.