GILROY
– Early contract signings for teaching positions next year – a
useful tool for recruiting high-in-demand, low-in-supply qualified
educators – won’t be happening in these budget-lean times, the
Gilroy Unified School District reported Wednesday.
GILROY – Early contract signings for teaching positions next year – a useful tool for recruiting high-in-demand, low-in-supply qualified educators – won’t be happening in these budget-lean times, the Gilroy Unified School District reported Wednesday.
The district made the decision this week in an effort to reduce expenses over the remainder of this school year.
The normally challenging process of determining district-wide needs based on enrollment forecasts is being complicated by the roughly $30 billion state revenue shortfall. The move to end the practice of early contract signings comes on the heels of a hiring freeze implemented last week for all vacant positions in the GUSD.
Early contract signings typically happen in March, at the peak of recruitment efforts by area school districts. Signing recruits to the so-called contingency contracts does not bind a person to working for a district, but does ensure a teaching position in that district for the applicant the following summer or fall.
“Obviously if we sign a contingency contract, we feel bound to providing a position to that teacher, but with impending budget cuts hanging over our head, some of those positions may no longer exist,” Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Linda Piceno said. “We’re not exactly saving money by doing this, but we’re reducing our exposure to spending money unnecessarily.”
Piceno said the move could hurt the district’s chances in landing top teaching talent for next school year, one of the GUSD’s key goals in its efforts to improve student performance by reforming curricula and its delivery district-wide.
“When you go to a job fair and the district next to you is saying ‘sign here,’ it’s easy to lose out on good, young teachers,” Piceno said.
The first-year human resources director would prefer the option of using contingency contracts, but says conditions in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area could offset the disadvantage of not having them.
Piceno says that many school districts in the region are showing flat growth or a reduction in student enrollment. Given the state’s unprecedented budget crunch of roughly $30 billion, layoffs of experienced and qualified teachers around the region could be forthcoming.
In Gilroy, public schools are seeing enrollment increases, meaning those out-of-work educators may be looking to “garlic town” schools for employment in 2003-04.
“We only grew by about 100 students, but at least we’re growing,” Piceno said, noting thatother bay area schools are declining due to the overall downturn in the economy and loss of jobs.
“Gilroy is still a cheaper place to live. Compare home prices here with, let’s say, Palo Alto,” Piceno said.
Gene Sakahara, the GUSD’s lead recruiter, called the stoppage of contingency contracts “somewhat inhibiting” to district recruiting efforts. However, Sakahara is optimistic, he said, about finding qualified individuals, especially in content areas like math, science, foreign languages and special education when recruiting efforts go full boar in March.
“With the economic downturn we’re seeing more candidates who are transitioning from other careers. We see accountants and high tech workers applying now,” Sakahara said.
Out-of-reach housing costs in Silicon Valley also make Gilroy a viable option for teachers, especially first-year educators who, across most districts, take in less than $40,000 a year.
Officials began preparing this week for the district’s annual teacher recruitment drive that peaks this coming March. On Tuesday, human resources staff started looking at enrollment projections for every grade level at each school site to determine baseline staffing needs.
“We won’t have firm numbers until summer because every week we have teachers or students moving,” Piceno said. “You know, life happens.”
The district will gather data in January and February that will tell officials whether district teachers plan on staying with the district or moving on next year. Questionnaires are sent to teachers asking them of their plans, but Piceno said the district cannot hold anyone to what they state in that document.
Human resources staff will meet with enrollment consultant Tom Williams of Tom Williams & Associates this week to get a firmer grip on enrollment projections for next year.
In order to save money on salaries and benefits, districts often recruit more part-time staff to fill vacant spots. However, Piceno says finding quality people willing to forego full-time salary and benefits for part-time work is no easy task.
Piceno said the district will attend county-wide job fairs and host its own recruitment day in the early part of next year. The district is also considering whether to attend out-of-state recruitment drives in Washington, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
By April or May, the district will begin contract signings, Piceno said.
Gilroy Unified currently lists its job openings at Ed-Join.org, the leading online information source for education jobs. Piceno said it has been a cost-effective tool for districts in landing teaching talent from across the country and that some districts in the Bay Area have gone to “completely paperless” recruiting.
“We’re not quite there yet, but it is the way of the future,” Piceno said.
Sakahara said in one instance involving a social studies opening, 13 candidates applied online the first day and another 20 applied the day after that.
“Recruiting online means we can be much more efficient and effective in hiring people statewide and nationally,” Sakahara said. “It’s just easier to be in touch once applicants show interest.”
The district offers teachers what it considers a “competitive” employment package. First-year teachers without credentials earn $35,687 and receive a benefits package that includes health insurance for them and their families.
First-time teachers with a credential earn $37,978. After several years in the classroom, teachers with a credential, a master’s degree and other professional development experience can earn $62,813.
For first-year Gilroy High School English instructor Tom Simmons, who was offered work at other school districts, money was not a factor in taking a job in the GUSD.
“Money was not the driving force. The driving force was the staff, the student population and support from veteran teachers,” Simmons said.
Bay Area Recruitment
Gilroy Unified
lowest full-time teaching salary- $35,687
new staff training- Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA)
student improvement – 58 percent meet state goals
number of students- 9,630
Morgan Hill Unified
lowest full-time teaching salary- $37,740
new staff training- BTSA program
student improvement – 58 percent meet state goals
number of students- more than 9,000
Hollister Unified
lowest full-time teaching salary- $38,401
new staff training- BTSA program
student improvement – 37 percent meet state goals
number of students- 6,100
San Jose Unified
base salary- $37,477
new staff training- BTSA program
student improvement- 45 percent meet state goals
number of students- 32,573
Salinas Union High School District
base salary- $35,635
new staff training- BTSA program
student improvement- 71 percent meet state goals
number of students- 13,105
