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HR explains new contract language including a capped salary-reduction clause; board seeks earlier review process
Summary
District HR described contract language added this year allowing up to a 5% conditional salary reduction for funding shortfalls, a criminal-offense disclosure change and electronic W-2 delivery; board members called for earlier review and greater transparency.
District staff reviewed updates to certificated and administrative contracts at the March 27 Washington Elementary School District Governing Board meeting, describing three primary changes: a new narrowly tailored clause allowing up to a 5% conditional salary reduction for specific funding shortfalls (paragraphs 4 and 7 in the respective contracts), updated criminal-offense disclosure language that requires reporting of convictions or pending felony charges, and an electronic-delivery option for W-2 forms.
Staff said the 4/7 clause is intended as a narrowly tailored authority to address specific funding shortfalls during the 2025–26 school year and that a broader set of salary-control measures (paragraphs 6 and 10) remain available for larger actions such as furloughs or schedule reductions, which require longer notice. Presenters said they could not recall a recent instance in which a school district enacted in-year salary reductions and described the added clause as “an abundance of caution.”
HR staff said 1,228 contracts were issued on March 15 and that 508 had been returned by the afternoon of March 27 (about a 41% return rate). The new language regarding criminal-offense disclosure tracks a recent law change (presenters did not cite a statute name in the meeting). Staff also said the district’s move to electronic W-2 delivery was recommended by finance and legal and would allow employees to retrieve W-2s from the employee portal.
Board members repeatedly praised the intent of the changes but criticized the timing and lack of prior review by the board and staff. Vice President Lisonbee Peterson and others asked that contract language be presented to the board in January or February going forward so trustees and employees can review and comment before contracts are distributed (per staff, contracts cannot be sent to employees before mid-March, but the board can review language earlier). District staff agreed to add the contract review to the master schedule and to improve communication with employees and the board about such changes.
