Mountain View Whisman School District

Agenda Item for Board Meeting of 9/5/2024

Agenda Category:  CONSENT AGENDA

Agenda Item Title:  Approval of Application for Exemption from the Required Expenditures for Classroom Teachers' Salaries

Estimated Time: 

Person Responsible: 

Rebecca Westover, Ed.D., Chief Business Officer

Background: 

Explanation for Not Meeting Required Expenditures for Classroom Teachers’ Salaries Pursuant to Education Code Section 41372

Due to ongoing challenges in hiring special education and specialized personnel, our district was unable to meet the Required Expenditures for Classroom Teachers’ Salaries as mandated by Education Code Section 41372. Despite our best efforts to recruit and retain qualified staff, we faced significant obstacles in filling key positions such as instructional assistants.

1. Recruitment Challenges:

• We have consistently posted open positions for specialized personnel and offered salaries that are not only competitive but among the highest in the area for comparable districts. Our district is known for providing some of the best health benefits in the region, which we believe makes our employment packages particularly attractive.

• However, the availability of qualified candidates in these specialized areas has been extremely limited. We have been unable to attract and retain the necessary staff, forcing us to rely on outsourcing to meet the needs of our students.

2. Preference for Contracting Over Employment:

   • Many potential candidates for these roles prefer contracting over full-time employment within the school system. Contract work offers them greater flexibility, allowing them to move freely between different districts, states, and sectors.

   • Additionally, the preference for Social Security over the State Teachers’ Retirement System (STRS) has been a significant deterrent for many contractors. STRS requires them to remain within the education system, limiting their professional mobility. This makes full-time employment within the district less attractive to highly skilled professionals who value the freedom to transition outside of education or move to other states.

3. Saves the District Money

   • Contracting specialists save the district money in many circumstances since full-time employees are not required to perform the work.  

4. Outsourcing as a Necessity:

   • Given these challenges, outsourcing these essential services was the only viable option to ensure that our students' needs were met. Unfortunately, this necessary expenditure on outsourced services has resulted in a lower proportion of our budget being allocated to direct classroom teachers’ salaries.

5. Impact on Expenditure Requirements:

   • If we had been able to hire all specialized special education positions in-house, we would have been less than 1% of the requirement.  

We are committed to continuing our efforts to recruit and retain qualified staff and are exploring additional strategies to improve our hiring outcomes in the future. However, the unique challenges associated with special education personnel in our district have made it impossible to fully meet the expenditure requirements this year.

That the Board of Trustees approve the application for exemption from the required expenditures for Classroom Teachers’ Salaries as submitted.