Should U-46 have considered pay cuts instead of job cuts?

Lynda Alagna knows times are tough.

The administrative assistant at Bartlett High School even says she applauds Elgin Area School District U-46's efforts to trim $17 million from next year's budget.

But is cutting hundreds of jobs the way to go?

"I think they should have been more creative," Alagna, of Bartlett, said.

"I would have gladly taken a pay cut to save jobs."

That idea, officials say, was and is not on the table.

"The problem is, you can't unilaterally enforce pay cuts on people," Chief Financial Officer John Prince said. "If they have a contract, they have a contract."

Next year's tentative $427 million budget - a 1.4 percent increase over what the district is projected to spend this year - assumes no increase in state aid, no guaranteed federal stimulus package money, flat property tax revenues and a decline in interest on investments.

It also factors in a $17 million increase in negotiated salaries and benefits for union employees.

To balance these out, the budget for capital outlay will decrease by 40 percent, to $12.4 million. Funds on supplies and purchased services will be restricted - aiming to save $7 million. And the equivalent of 348 full time positions have been eliminated.

Like Alagna, some community members say they believe union pay cuts could have lessened the blow.

"I'm in business and there are a lot of people out there getting pay cuts," board candidate Ed Stade, of Bartlett, said. "I think the district should consider it. I mean, they hired all these people because they felt like they needed them."

Stade's wife Silvia, a district administrative assistant, will lose her position next year.

Union contracts can be reopened for negotiation if there is joint agreement between the district and union members.

District Spokesman Tony Sanders said Superintendent Jose Torres raised the issue of pay cuts in an e-mail to union leaders last week, but no official talks developed.

Elgin Teachers Association President Tim Davis said his 2,400-member union would be "concerned about the precedent of reopening (our) contract."

Even in 2003, when U-46 was $40 million in the red and laid off 600 teachers, such a move was never made.

"It would be complicated," said Dave Neal, the Uniserv Director for U-46's transportation union, education assistants union, service workers union and secretarial union.

"A lot of things are predicated on that," he said. "And frankly the groups that I work with were all very modest in their salary gains anyhow, tying increases to the cost of living ... there's not much room to back up."

While it might be common for nonunion employees in the business world to get their pay slashed, it's rare for unions to consider renegotiating their contracts.

Last week, the Lake Zurich Education Association, the union for teachers in Unit District 95, denied a request to reopen negotiations of its collective bargaining agreement in an effort to cut $4 million from next year's budget.

Union President Sandie Edwards said teachers have pulled their weight for the district, often buying their own supplies.

In the four U-46 unions Neal represents, average raises, including step and lane increases for education and experience, work out to be about 4.4 percent next year, he said. Most are tied to the inflation rate.

According to the terms of their contract, Elgin Teachers' Association members' 2009-10 raises also will be tied to the inflation rate. Davis said that 1.5 percent raises will be added to members base salaries, before step and lane increases.

The 348 cuts in U-46 break down into a loss of 73 full time positions for district administrative employees; 193 positions for district instructional employees; and 82 positions for district operational employees.

While the number of general education and English language learners teachers will not change next year, 22 of 44 certified school nurses will be cut, along with 10 of 63 school social workers. So will the jobs of 48 special education teachers, 15 home school liaisons, five librarians and 68 teachers' aides.

District officials billed the cuts, approved by the school board Monday, as a "worst-case scenario." One likely source of additional revenue is the $8.5 million in federal stimulus money the district is expected to net.

The district hasn't built that money into its budget yet, officials have said, because it doesn't know what rules will have to be applied in using the funds.

When the revenue picture is clearer, Torres said the district will "evaluate all options," including recalling positions.

"I hope that some of the state aid and stimulus money does go through so we don't have to go through with these doomsday plans," Neal said.

But right now, Alagna said, "I think it's just going to be impossible to keep up (with the work) next year. They should have been more creative, instead of just laying large numbers of different groups off."