FRESNO, Calif. (KMJ/KFSN) — On Wednesday night, six members of the Fresno Unified School Board passed a motion to move forward with a supplementary retirement plan.
Only one member abstained.
Moments before the vote, Member Elizabeth Johasson Rosas shared her reasons for breaking with the board.
“I do want to proceed with caution as this could have unintended consequences,” she said.
Fresno Unified is already contending with challenges in a post-COVID world.
In the state of California, districts are funded based on average daily attendance. Currently, the district says it’s down 820 students fewer than last year.
“As the district has been experiencing declining enrollment, we felt like this was a good time from a fiscal perspective to make this offer,” said Patrick Jensen, FUSD Chief Financial Officer.
The district says it’s down about $30 million a year just from students being in class less than they were prior to COVID.
“It’s a way to reduce expenses while also honoring the service of our long-time employees,” said Jensen.
That offer includes a one-time plan for the District’s 1,900 qualified employees who meet specific criteria: 55 years and older who have given five consecutive years of service to the district.
That list of individuals includes classified employees such as bus drivers and food service workers, as well as teachers, supervisors and managers.
“What each employee will get if they were to accept this is that over the course of the next five years, they’re going to get in total 80% of their salary for this year. So that breaks down at 16% of your final salary each year over the next five years,” said President Manuel Bonilla of the Fresno Teachers Association.
“The employee also has other options to extend that over a period of time, so it can go from five years at the minimum up to a lifetime,” said Jensen.
The Fresno Teachers Association represents about 4,700 employees throughout the district. Union President Bonilla says the move is a win for both educators and the District.
“The district gets to save money; our educators and all employees get an incentive as they leave,” said Bonilla.
Fresno Unified says it will know just how many employees will accept the plan on December 5.
Two weeks later, the district will vote on whether to approve or rescind the plan.
Should it pass, employees have until the last day of June to resign.
