CTA chapter members gather at a rally held to support the chapter's bargaining team.
The Capistrano Unified School District board trustees have been missing in action during the protracted negotiations with the Capistrano Unified Education Association, charged CUEA President Frank Weirath at an association rally in September.
"It's disappointing that the school board trustees who were elected to make decisions for this district have handed over their responsibility to Superintendent Fleming," Weirath said. "Because the trustees have not been involved in setting the district's positions in the negotiation process, James Fleming has been free to misrepresent the district's financial status and drag out contract talks."
In a letter to community members, Fleming claimed the district was facing a budget shortfall and might have to raise class size and reduce programs. Fleming made the assertions in spite of the fact that the district received a 4.11 percent cost-of-living adjustment for 2001-02 along with $7.7 million in unrestricted funds from the state.
CTA President Wayne Johnson addresses chapter members attending the rally.
Weirath pointed out that under Fleming's guidance the district's projected reserves for 2002-03 are budgeted at more than twice the state requirement. The reserve includes more than $17 million not spent on students or teachers, and carried over from the 2001-02 budget year.
CTA President Wayne Johnson told the CUEA members gathered in the stands at the Aliso Niguel High School football stadium that what Fleming was doing to the students, the community and the teachers of Capistrano was unconscionable.
Johnson pledged that CUEA would continue to receive all of the support it needed from CTA while a fair contract settlement was being negotiated with the district.
Capistrano is the only district in Orange County that has not settled its 2001-02 contract negotiations with certificated employees. The average contract salary settlement in the rest of the county is 5 percent.
Capistrano Unified Education Association President Frank Weirath speaks to chapter members at the rally.
Negotiations between the district and CUEA are at impasse, and the factfinding process will begin soon.
Frank Caso