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Teachers association flags audit findings and classroom spending shortfall
Summary
Mike Ephraim, president of the Healdsburg Area Teachers Association, said initial contract negotiations went well but raised concerns from a recent audit: the district may be overstaffed administratively by roughly 1.5 positions and appears nearly $800,000 short on Education Code-required classroom spending; the superintendent clarified the shortfall relates to classroom expenditures, not only salaries.
Mike Ephraim, president of the Healdsburg Area Teachers Association, reported that bargaining teams had held a first negotiations meeting and reached tentative agreement on some open articles, but he also raised audit concerns about district staffing and compliance with state reporting. Ephraim said the audit suggests the district is overstaffed in administration by about 1.5 positions and that the district appears to be nearly $800,000 short of the amount the Education Code requires be spent on classroom-related expenditures.
The superintendent responded with a clarification that the audit metric refers to money spent on classrooms more broadly — not exclusively teacher salaries — and described the state's complex formula underlying the calculation. Ephraim said the union hopes the board and district will address the issue and that negotiations will continue, with additional meetings scheduled after the March board meeting when the district's financial picture is clearer.
