Burbank school officials balk at cost of paying into state retirement system
After weathering a years-long financial crisis that began in 2007, Burbank school officials said they are pleased the state is beginning to rebound, and that the recovery is beginning to translate into more funds for education.
However, local school officials also lament the state’s required mandate that will have school districts across the state contribute more money over the next few years into two retirement systems for teachers and district employees who are not educators.
The first retirement system, CalSTRS, is used by teachers. The second, CalPERS, is for district employees who are not educators, including custodians, secretaries or computer technicians.
By the 2017-18 fiscal year, Burbank Unified officials anticipate the district will be paying roughly $11.2 million more into the two employee retirement systems than it did two years ago.
Although he understands the systems must be funded, Burbank school board member Larry Applebaum said during a recent meeting that he would rather use the $11.2 million to establish new educational programs or provide “robust raises” to district employees.
When Applebaum was first elected to the school board in 2005, the district boasted $33 million in reserves. After several years of state budget cuts to education, school officials dipped into the reserve fund to balance the budget, and they made cuts to programs and staff positions.
The district’s reserve fund is now about $18 million, and a good chunk of new revenue from the state will be set aside for the two retirement systems, according to David Jaynes, assistant superintendent for Burbank Unified.
“The tragedy is, that’s being taken away from the kids of today,” Applebaum said. “That’s what kills me.”
The district’s required contributions into the retirement systems will steadily increase over the next couple of years.
During the current fiscal year, which began this past July 1, district officials set aside $5.8 million for the teachers’ retirement system.
Burbank Unified will pitch in an additional $2.9 million into the teachers’ system next year, and that amount will climb by another $4.3 million in 2017-18.
“I’m pleased that we’re starting to invest in education. They also gave us a big bill to pay,” Supt. Matt Hill said of state officials. He added that while the investment is one “we need to make,” he hopes the state will “still invest in education.”
The contributions into the retirement fund for the district’s employees who are not teachers are less, but they also increase year-to-year.
About $1.7 million went into the retirement fund for non-teaching employees during the current fiscal year.
Next year, Burbank Unified will pitch in an additional $472,000 more to the CalPERS fund, and the amount will jump by $1.3 million more during the 2017-18 school year.
--
Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
