Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which school district officials in San Bernardino County believe that four selected Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) rulings related to scope of bargaining issues have had an effect upon the operations of school districts in the County, and the extent to which the expansion of scope as a result of these rulings has impacted the ability of districts to manage their daily operations. Procedure. Data concerning the selected PERB rulings were obtained by means of a two-tiered, information-gathering survey procedure. The initial survey instrument was designed for purposes of determining the degree of impaction on school districts as a result of the selected PERB decisions. The second survey consisted of a personal interview of those district respondents that indicated a moderate-to-substantial impact on their district as a result of any of the four PERB cases. Selected findings. (1) Fewer than 10 percent of the responding school districts indicated that the district had received a "blanket" request to bargain on all of the issues in any of the four PERB cases studied. (2) Almost 76 percent of the districts surveyed in this study indicated the district had been impacted in its ability to manage its daily operations as a result of one or more of the four PERB cases studied, with 58.6 percent indicating a moderate-to-severe rating of impact. (3) The larger school districts (more than 5,000 ADA) reported a more substantial impact from the cases studied when compared to smaller districts. Selected conclusions. (1) Rural school districts noted significantly less impact than did suburban or urban districts when dealing with the four selected PERB cases. (2) Smaller school districts (less than 1,500 ADA) also noted significantly less impact than larger districts in some of the areas researched in the four selected PERB cases. (3) Urban school districts were more greatly impacted by the four selected cases (especially the decision dealing with classified personnel) than were rural or suburban districts. (4) In most areas of assessment, the size, type, and location of the school district produced no significant difference in the respondent districts. Selected recommendations. (1) Individuals or groups involved in decision making that affects school policy should become familiar with the impact of the bargaining requirements if the issues are deemed to be "within scope." (2) Members of the Public Employment Relations Board should identify both the direct and indirect influences of their decisions as the decisions affect the issue of scope of bargaining. (3) The intentions of policy or law-making bodies must be clearly stated and identified if the intent is to be accurately reflected in the positions and actions of the parties implementing those laws or policies.