OGSD Negotiations Update

OGSD and OGEA kicked off negotiations meetings this month with their first day at the table on Wednesday, January 29th. The teams had the opportunity to make introductions, agree upon ground rules for negotiations and begin sharing initial proposals on both sides. OGEA shared their proposal on Article 8: Leaves and OGSD shared their proposal on Article 10: Evaluation Procedures

There are twelve negotiations sessions scheduled through June, with a mix of in-person and virtual meetings. Meetings will be added or adjusted as needed.

We expect to sunshine articles with the California School Employees Association (CSEA) at the February 13th Public Board Meeting

The Educational Employment Relations Act (EERA) of 1976 established collective bargaining for California's public schools and community colleges. EERA allows teachers and classified employees to bargain collectively with their employers, promotes peaceful labor relations and provided a framework for working relationships between employers, employees and exclusive representatives. EERA is codified in Government Code (EC) sections

"Sunshining" a contract is the process of presenting the initial proposals for a contract to the public for comment an discussion. The purpose of sunshining is to ensure that the public is informed of the articles being negotiated and can express their views when the initial proposals are presented to the governing board. Sunshining helps to ensure that the public is informed of the articles being negotiated.

The Oak Grove Educators' Association (OGEA) and the Oak Grove School District (OGSD) sunshined articles for upcoming negotiations at the December 12th Public Board Meeting.

Common articles for both teams included: Article 8: Leaves; Article 11: Transfer, Assignment; Reassignment and Exchanges; Article 12: Compensation; Article 13: Health and Welfare Benefits; Article 14: Hours of Employment; Article 15: Class Size and Staffing Ratios; Article 16: Safety Conditions

Additionally, OGEA sunshined Article 1: Preamble and Recognition and Article 22: Miscellaneous Provisions and OGSD sunshined Article 10: Evaluation Procedures

The District continues to seek avenues to keep employees and the public informed of budget updates.

2024-25 First Interim Budget Report

At the December 12, 2024 Public Board Meeting, Associate Superintendent Mark Evans presented the 2024-25 First Interim Report. Assembly Bill 2862 requires district superintendents to prepare and submit twice annually interim financial reports. The purpose of the interim reports is to advise administrators, the Board, the public and other interested parties of the District's current and projected financial condition at periodic intervals during the fiscal year.

Here is the conclusion to the First Interim Executive Summary:
We must continue to navigate the currents ahead that will strain the District’s budget. These relate to the declining enrollment, the reduced attendance, and the structural deficit as one-time dollars are exhausted and programs continue. Several factors have contributed to the district’s structural deficit, including the ongoing loss of enrollment, increased employee pension costs, the District’s commitment to maintaining competitive employee compensation, and increased special education and transportation costs in excess of State and Federal funding. External factors also exist. State revenues are impacted by the economy locally and internationally. The District must also be prepared to weather reductions to funding which could occur in a recession. This would widen the structural deficit.

Link to the 2024-2025 1st Interim Presentation - December 12, 2024
Link to the 2024-2025 First Interim Budget

On January 21, 2025, the Executive Team attended the annual Governor's Budget Workshop with Union Leadership, OGEA President Luis Velasquez and CSEA President Chuck Baylot, along with Business and HR Managers.

At the workshop, we received a presentation and resources from School Services of California to educate ourselves, our staff and community on some of the major issues and challenges facing California educators. The following list were themes for the 2025-25 Governor's Budget:

• Understanding the state fiscal impacts of devastating and costly State of Emergency of the Los Angeles Fires

• Potential impacts to National Election Results and the Educational Landscape, particularly Federal Funding (ie. Title Grants)

• The Governor's current proposal appears to under-appropriate the 2024-25 minimum guarantee by $1.6 billion

• Amidst stable Proposition 98 funding the Governor proposes an education budget that invests in core instruction and learning.

On Monday, February 10th from 4:00-4:45pm, Associate Superintendent Mark Evans will have a budget presentation for interested staff members. Staff can attend the presentation in person at the District Office (Boardroom) or can join virtually via Google Meet.

Staff Budget Presentation

Time: 4:00pm-4:45pm

Location: In-Person in OGSD Boardroom or Online via Google Meet
Meeting link: https://meet.google.com/fgt-crwc-ybh

This is an opportunity to get more information regarding the current district budget, the first interim budget report, Governor Newsom's Proposed State Budget and information on an OGSD Fiscal Outlook Committee that will work together across educational partners to discuss factors facing the District on the financial front in addition to gathering input on priorities in light of fiscal challenges.