City of Pittsburg: Pittsburg schools want to give teachers a raise amid austerity

Pittsburg schools want to give teachers a raise amid austerity

Posted Date: 10/17/2011

By Rick Radin
Contra Costa Times

Posted: 10/17/2011 12:00:00 AM PDT

Updated: 10/17/2011 12:08:02 AM PDT

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.

To change your eSubscriptions preferences, click the following link:
http://www.ci.pittsburg.ca.us/index.aspx?page=16&subscriberguid=1c6754fb-fdf1-4dc6-974f-3c1e43fbed5f

To unsubscribe from all City of Pittsburg eSubscriptions, please click the following link:
http://www.ci.pittsburg.ca.us/index.aspx?page=16&subscriberguid=1c6754fb-fdf1-4dc6-974f-3c1e43fbed5f&unsubscribe=1

City of Pittsburg: Pittsburg schools enroll more students, hire 71 teachers

Pittsburg schools enroll more students, hire 71 teachers

Posted Date: 9/2/2011

By Rick Radin
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 09/01/2011 02:03:29 PM PDT
Updated: 09/02/2011 05:45:02 AM PDT


The Pittsburg school district is in the midst of a building boom at the same time it has added about 500 students and hired 71 teachers.

Enrollment is up about 6 percent to 10,310 students, and the new teachers bring the district total to 510, according to Superintendent Linda Rondeau.

The attendance increase resulted in part from the district's higher test scores, new school construction and upgrades to the city through redevelopment, Rondeau said "School districts having more kids is good news, both fiscally and as a compliment to the district," she said.

An early-retirement program in the spring helped the district replace older teachers with lower-paid, younger teachers, she said.

Pittsburg's eight elementary schools jumped an average of 26.5 points in state academic performance testing for the 2010-11 school year, and the two middle schools showed smaller gains.

Pittsburg has begun constructing a new continuation school and is about to start on the district's third middle school.

The new Riverside Continuation High School will be at a site near Loveridge Road and Stoneman Avenue.

The new middle school will be built at 950 El Pueblo Ave., the site of a former elementary school, said Enrique Palacios, associate superintendent of business services.

Voters passed a $100 million bond issue in November that will be used to build the junior high and renovate the eight elementary schools. The continuation school is being financed by bonds issued in 2006.

The district opened a new high school a year ago that accommodates about 2,500 students.

Contact Rick Radin at 925-779-7166.

To change your eSubscriptions preferences, click the following link:
http://www.ci.pittsburg.ca.us/index.aspx?page=16&subscriberguid=1c6754fb-fdf1-4dc6-974f-3c1e43fbed5f

To unsubscribe from all City of Pittsburg eSubscriptions, please click the following link:
http://www.ci.pittsburg.ca.us/index.aspx?page=16&subscriberguid=1c6754fb-fdf1-4dc6-974f-3c1e43fbed5f&unsubscribe=1

City of Pittsburg: Pittsburg school district moves ahead on third junior high

Pittsburg school district moves ahead on third junior high

Posted Date: 5/30/2011

By Rick Radin
Contra Costa Times

Posted: 05/25/2011 04:53:52 PM PDT

Updated: 05/26/2011 03:01:32 PM PDT

PITTSBURG -- The school district is seeking bids for design and construction of a third junior high school it wants to build to relieve overcrowding at its other two.

The project is the first of a series to be funded by a $100 million bond issue passed in November.
The $28 million school will be built at 950 El Pueblo Ave., the site of a former elementary school that is now a preschool.
"The reason we want to build a new junior high is to downsize the other two," said Enrique Palacios, associate superintendent for business services. "We want the schools to have about 800 students, and the existing schools have about 1,100 each."
The district was initially weighing a land swap with the city to build the school at City Park on Railroad Avenue but decided to go with one already approved for school use to save money on an environmental analysis, Palacios said. "We already know what's in the ground on our property," he said.
The district will demolish the old buildings that face El Pueblo Avenue and build the new school in the same spot.
It plans artificial turf athletic fields on the south end of the site bordering California Avenue and wants to negotiate a joint-use agreement with the city so that the fields can be used by sports teams and leagues after school hours.
The 138 preschool students at the Martin Luther King Children Center in the old elementary school will be dispersed among the district's eight elementary schools, Palacios said.
"This gave us the opportunity to look at preschool education in a different light, do it with more of a neighborhood feel," he said.
Next up after the junior high will be new campuses for Heights Elementary, at 163 West Blvd., and Parkside Elementary, at 985 W. 17th St.
After that, the district will renovate Foothill Elementary and do repairs, such as replacing roofs and windows, at its other five elementary schools.
The district will break ground June 23 on a $12 million continuation school that is being funded with a 2006 bond issue.
The continuation school will be adjacent to the district's adult education facility at Loveridge Road and Stoneman Avenue.
The district is hoping to open the junior high and the continuation school in fall 2012.
At its June 8 meeting, the school board will consider three to five names for the continuation school from a list contributed by the public, according to Superintendent Linda Rondeau.

To change your eSubscriptions preferences, click the following link:
http://www.ci.pittsburg.ca.us/index.aspx?page=16&subscriberguid=1c6754fb-fdf1-4dc6-974f-3c1e43fbed5f

To unsubscribe from all City of Pittsburg eSubscriptions, please click the following link:
http://www.ci.pittsburg.ca.us/index.aspx?page=16&subscriberguid=1c6754fb-fdf1-4dc6-974f-3c1e43fbed5f&unsubscribe=1

City of Pittsburg: PUSD Seeks Name for New School

PUSD Seeks Name for New School

Posted Date: 5/10/2011

Pittsburg Unified School District will open a new continuation high school in the fall of 2012. The school will be located on Stoneman Avenue. To begin the process of naming the new school, an invitation is being extended to the community to submit names for consideration. Forms are available on the district website at www.pittsburg.k12.ca.us  can be completed at 2000 Railroad Avenue, Pittsburg, Ca. 94565; and submitted to the Superintendent's Office. The nomination form is also available by clicking here.  The School Naming Committee will share their recommendations with the School Board on June 8, 2011.