Merced County Office of Education

Merced County

Office of Education

Steven E. Gomes, Ed. D., Superintendent

Equal Opportunity Employer

July 1, 2013

TO:District Superintendents/Chief Business Officials

FROM:Ann Peters, District Fiscal Services Director

SUBJECT:2013-14Disclosure of Collective Bargaining Agreement (DCBA)

Our office is pleased to provide a Disclosure of Collective Bargaining Agreement (DCBA) that is available for your use for 2013-14 fiscal year. This form and instructions are available at:

Government Code Section 3547.5 was amended by AB 2756 June 21, 2004. The amendments imposed tougher standards for school district accountability. Government Code Section 3547.5 requires a district’s superintendent and chief business officer to certifythe costs incurred under a collective bargaining agreement can be met by the district during the term of the agreement. This certification can be found on the last page of the DCBA document.

It is requiredschool districtsinclude a multi-year projection with the terms of the settlement for the current and two subsequent fiscal years. This is necessary to verify that the district is able to maintain the required minimum reserve for economic uncertainties.

Government Code Section 3547.5further specifies the county superintendent of schools is required to issue a qualified or negative certification for the district on its next interim report if the district does not adopt budget revisions needed in the current year to meet the costs of the agreement in each year of its term; this must be completed within 45 working days from the date of ratification.

The DCBA is intended to ensure that the public is aware of the proposed settlement and its known costs. This public hearing is necessary even if the settlement proposes a zero cost increase to the district. The proposed collective bargaining agreement document should be disclosed before it becomes binding on the district.

Copies of all proposed bargaining unit agreements along with the DCBA and Certificationsigned by the district superintendent and chief business officer, must be filed with our office five working days prior to the date the governing board will take action on the proposed agreement in order to demonstrate compliance with Government Code Section 3547.5. If the district is qualified or negative, the DCBA and Certification must be provided to our office tenworking days prior to the date of the Governing Board action.

After the governing board has taken action to ratify the proposed agreement, the certification form must be re-submitted to the Merced County Office of Education with the board president’s original signature. Any revisions made to the agreement, which were not part of the original documents initially submitted to the County Office, must be clearly indicated.

The district must send to our office any revisions to the current budget that are necessary in order to fulfill the terms of the agreement. This must be filed with our office within 45 days of the settlement.

If you have any questions regarding the completion of this form, please feel free to contact me or Kim Freitas .