SANTA ANA : Faculty Pay Cuts Canceled at College

Salaries for Rancho Santiago College District’s teachers and administrators will remain frozen at their 1992-93 levels, despite contract agreements that call for a 5% cut.

The Board of Trustees last week agreed to contracts with the Faculty Assn. of the Rancho Santiago College District and district administrators, which included a 5% pay reduction. However, the board immediately suspended the pay cut because it was negotiated based on budget assumptions that failed to materialize, said Stephen Garcia, vice chancellor of business operations and fiscal services.

“Our first priority is the classroom and the students,” Garcia said. “In order to maintain the quality, we have to have faculty who can focus their interests and attention on the classroom and not have a morale problem.”

The average salary for a teacher would have fallen from $50,000 a year to about $47,500 under the contract.

The pay cut would have gone into effect in September, when the two-year contracts begin. Still, should state funding fail to come in as expected, the pay cut could be reinstated for the 1994-95 school year.

The district trimmed $6 million from its $70.2-million 1993-94 budget based on projected income from the state. Because the shortfall now appears to be only $3 million, the need to reduce salaries is no longer crucial, Garcia said.

“We have already made adequate budget reductions for ‘93-94,” he said.