Trustees Vote for Raise for Teachers

Teachers who relinquished 5% of their paychecks during the school district’s financial crisis last year may soon get some of the money back.

Laguna Beach Unified School District trustees voted late last month to restore 1.25% of teacher salaries under an amended contract up for union approval today, Supt. Reed Montgomery said.

“Obviously, it’s very difficult to take a 5% pay cut,” he said. “And we think this would be a good way to start off the school year.”

The teachers agreed in November to have their salaries clipped as part of an emergency plan by school officials to keep the county from taking control of the district’s finances. Trustees were able to balance the budget only by cutting salaries throughout the district and borrowing $850,000.

Montgomery said the district now has enough money to offer a 1.25% increase to the teachers and other employees who took 5% cuts. Details of agreements with nonteaching employees have not yet been worked out.

The district’s financial problems were blamed in large part on waning property tax revenue that was not offset by spending cuts. Laguna Beach Unified is the only district in Orange County that depends on property tax revenue rather than attendance-based state funding.

In recent months, district finances have begun to improve. In June, trustees adopted a balanced budget for the 1997-98 school year and approved a financial report showing the district would be able to pay its bills until at least 1999. Conservative estimates indicate that property tax revenue will rise 4.15% in the coming fiscal year, Montgomery said.

Dennis Haryung, president of the Laguna Beach Unified Faculty Assn., called the proposed salary increase “better than nothing” and said he knows of no reason why it wouldn’t be accepted by the teachers.

“It’s certainly not enough to cure all the ills, that’s for sure,” he said. “But it’s a positive step in the right direction.”