The Pittsburg school district is juggling budget uncertainties as it tries to increase teacher salaries, find the money to pay for state-mandated services and continue to provide innovative programs that administrators believe raise test scores.
The district is negotiating a new contract with its 510 teachers, who are among the lowest-paid in Contra Costa, said Enrique Palacios, Pittsburg's associate superintendent for business services.
The teachers are working under a contract that expired June 30. Salaries range from $39,824 to $73,906, not including benefits.
Antioch teacher salaries, by comparison, begin at $35,938 and top out at $80,124.
The lower salaries help the district balance its budget, but they are proving a barrier to recruiting and retaining good teachers, Palacios said.
Pittsburg hired 77 teachers this fall, an usually high number for a district its size. The district has 10,310 students.
"We're trying to keep the teachers we've hired, and we're looking at the entire compensation package," Palacios said.
The district has also closed its child care center on the site where it is building a new junior high school on Pueblo Avenue and moved the students to seven of its eight elementary schools.
The 322 children are in child care or preschool programs, said Superintendent Linda Rondeau.
The Lynn Center for special needs children moved from the child care center to Brentwood in early August, Rondeau said.
School district finances will be affected if the Legislature makes up to $4 billion in statewide cuts because projected tax revenues don't materialize, Palacios said.
If state revenues fall $2 billion to $4 billion short, the district would lose all or part of its state funding for busing and up to $260 out of the $5,213 it spends per student.
Schools are safe from the trigger up to $2 billion, but after that it "hits schools fast and hits schools hard," according to the California Association of School Business Officials.
School districts are required to provide busing for students who are moved to elementary schools farther from their homes because of overcrowding on certain campuses. The district also buses some regular elementary and junior high students.
When the new junior high opens north of Highway 4, the district will have to bus fewer students to the two other junior high schools south of the highway, Rondeau said.
Said Palacios: "If (the trigger cuts occur), we'll have to cut our budget somehow. We won't lay off people; we have to cut the budget."
Although the state controller's office released a pessimistic report last week about chances of getting the additional $4 billion, the state will have a better handle on the situation in November, said finance department spokesman H.D. Palmer.
Contact Rick Radin at 925-779-7166.