District revises offer, restores full school year and reduces class size
Additional state funding and budget savings eliminate 2014–15 deficit
May 15, 2014—Eugene School District 4J has presented a revised contract proposal to its teachers union, restoring a full academic year for students and adding additional teaching positions to provide workload relief and reduce class size. The revised offer would make 2014–15 the first full school year for students since 2008–09 and boost staffing above 2011–12 levels.
The offer presented to the Eugene Education Association (EEA) bargaining team coincided with news that the State of Oregon has provided the district $2 million in additional funding after final budget reconciliation for 2012–13. The additional state funding, combined with a higher than anticipated ending fund balance this year, eliminates a projected budget gap that required 4J to eliminate 26 full-time teaching positions in its preliminary budget. Superintendent Shelley Berman has alerted school principals that the budget-driven staffing reductions will be reversed. …
