Torrance Teachers, Board Plan ‘Budget Summit’ on Salaries : Contract: Teachers want an 8% raise. The school district says it can’t afford more than 1%, despite earlier cuts.

Torrance teachers, frustrated by prolonged contract negotiations, will meet with school district representatives next week in what one union official calls a “budget summit” to examine district spending plans.

“A budget conference is a necessity at this point if we’re to move forward to resolve the contract dispute that’s in front of us,” said William A. Franchini, executive director of the Torrance Teachers Assn. The two sides will see if they can agree on what money is available, he said.

A wide gulf separates teachers from administrators at the bargaining table. The teachers have asked for an 8% salary increase, but district officials say a 1% raise is all they can afford.

That gulf was dramatized Monday when more than 250 teachers picketed outside a meeting of the Torrance school board, chanting, “Contract, contract” and “We want new leadership.”

But as teachers raised picket signs on the sidewalks below, school administrators and trustees were discussing problems with the district’s $80-million budget for 1990-91. The Los Angeles County Office of Education told Torrance school officials in a letter Nov. 1 that it could not approve that budget because the district hadn’t set aside enough money in its reserve fund.

District officials have already trimmed nearly $3 million from the budget this year. Last month they laid off 39 non-teaching employees. The officials say they will be able to meet the county’s budget standards without further layoffs but cannot grant the teachers’ salary requests.

Some teachers argue, however, that money can be found for larger raises. They warn that teachers’ morale is sagging because of large classes, long hours and pay that they say is not keeping pace with medical and other costs.

To communicate their concerns, teachers organized a post-card writing campaign last month aimed at school trustees.

One high school teacher wrote: “I am working longer hours than ever before, but because of health-care costs, my take-home pay is less than last year.”

Two elementary school teachers interviewed during the picketing Monday said they deserve more than a 1% increase.

“A lot of people don’t realize the amount of hours you do put in,” said Theresa Pruitt, who teaches at Lincoln Elementary School. “You get to work two hours before (classes) and stay two hours afterwards.” And teachers are not paid overtime, she said.

In a presentation to the school board, union President Bert Ladre called on the district to allow its bargaining representatives to be more flexible and creative.

“If you don’t send them to the table with the necessary tools to get the job done, then we are headed down a path which will be educationally disruptive and unfortunately unavoidable,” Ladre said.

The teachers’ three-year contract with the district expired June 30. Teachers received a 4% raise in 1987-88, a 7% raise the following year and 8% last year, Franchini said.

A 1989-90 survey by the county showed that a teacher with a bachelor’s degree and no experience earned a beginning salary of $24,869 in Torrance, placing the district 22nd among 43 unified school districts in the county. The maximum salary for a teacher with 25 years’ experience was $48,090, placing the district 16th in the county.

This year, school officials say they simply cannot afford to give teachers another 8% raise. It would cost the district $3 million, compared to $370,000 if the teachers get a 1% raise, said Supt. Edward Richardson.

The district’s current offer includes a $250,000 increase in medical benefits and the promise of another 1% salary increase if state school aid increases. The district lost $995,000 when Gov. George Deukmejian set the cost-of-living adjustment for schools at 3% instead of the 4.76% approved by the Legislature. School officials are hoping Gov.-elect Pete Wilson will restore the funds.

Two school board members said in interviews Thursday that the district cannot afford 8% raises for teachers.

“They seem to think we’ve got money squirreled away. Hey, fine. If you find some, let me know,” said board Vice President David Sargent.

“We don’t have the reserve to fall back on,” said Trustee John Eubanks. “That’s why I think going out on a limb to offer a raise . . . could get us in real trouble. You can’t take back raises. All you can do is lay more people off.”

The district laid off the 39 employees, including many maintenance workers, last month during a round of cuts totaling $1.46 million. In March, the board had made $1.5 million in cuts.

But its final $80-million budget was still not conservative enough for county budget inspectors. In particular, the county criticized the designated reserve of $2.25 million, saying it should be higher.

In its letter, the county Office of Education said the district needs a larger reserve because it overbudgeted its lottery income by at least $317,000 and failed to include money for an additional $440,000 fee the district may need to pay the county for collecting and distributing property taxes.

The board will take up the issue at its Nov. 19 meeting, Richardson said. He said he does not anticipate any more layoffs because of the budget problem.

The county letter is part of a new, more stringent budget review process instituted last year, said Max Carrigan, assistant director of financial management services at the county education office.

“It’s to be sure that the district remains solvent and doesn’t run out of money by the end of the school year,” Carrigan said. Of the 82 school districts in the county, about one-third probably will get review letters like that sent to Torrance, he said.

The letter was made public at the Monday night board meeting as some picketers still milled on the sidewalks below.

“It’s a shame that the teachers picketing out there didn’t have that (letter) in hand,” Sargent said.