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Employees of the Tucson Unified School District won't be getting raises this year.

On the other hand, as the district closes negotiations with its employee groups before the start of the school year, some unpopular options are off the table, with officials agreeing to continue covering all health insurance benefits for employees and reassuring workers they won't be asked to sit home two days without pay.

The writing on the wall started becoming clear at Tuesday night's Governing Board meeting, when the board approved contract agreements with its administrators that included no pay increases.

Brenda Lambach, a division chairwoman representing the district's blue collar workers, such as bus drivers and custodians, said the economy is hitting her workers very hard. They're already the lowest-paid employees in the district, she said, and at least half of them are paid only during the school year.

"The economy is hard on everyone," Lambach said, adding that she just paid $2 for eggs at the store. "But it hits us harder because we have to live 12 months on 9 1/2 months' pay."

Calling the district's financial picture the worst she's seen in her 20 years with the district, Lambach said she'd be taking the bad news to her members next week. But she expects that most of them already have an inkling that pay will be static.

Originally facing a $20 million budget deficit, the district eliminated 80 central administration positions and cut both teaching and classified positions. It rolled back some class-size reductions and increased what families will pay for meals and extracurricular activities.

Given that state of affairs, Tucson Education Association President Steve Courter said the union "has reluctantly concluded that there is simply no money available at this time for salary and wage increases."

But as employees struggle with higher costs for fuel, food and other items, he warned the flatline on raises will only hurt the district's competitiveness in recruiting teachers.

Courter joined Governing Board President Alex Rodriguez in laying some of the blame with the Legislature.

"It's a sorry reflection on our priorities when the Legislature considers a state budget to be 'pro-education' when it fails to move us from 49th in the nation for per-pupil funding," Courter said.

The language in the agreement, which has yet to be finalized, holds out one ray of hope for workers, specifying that district officials will review the budget again at midyear and consider whether it's possible to provide wage increases then.

Superintendent Elizabeth Celania-Fagen, who is finishing her first month in charge of the district and spoke to school administrators in the morning about her new vision for TUSD, said she's hoping that the pay issue won't be the sole determinant of employee morale as the district enters its new phase.

Salaries and benefits are important, she acknowledged, but people also want good working conditions, with some professional discretion and the ability to do unique and creative work.

"This will be an inspirational, growing kind of year," she said, adding she hopes new freedom and energy will overcome the lag in pay.

At least so far, no one is expecting a repeat of last year's "blue flu," when teachers across the district staged a sickout to protest static wages.

Rosalva Meza, a second-grade teacher at Blenman Elementary School, said her colleagues understand the district wasn't likely to be in a position to approve raises. But, she said, teachers will watch to ensure that the ranks of administrators don't balloon if new revenues become available.

She said it will be a consolation to employees that talk of the furlough and the health-care kick-in have evaporated.

"Most of my colleagues who are cognizant of what's going on won't be happy, but at least we're not taking a cut," she said. "Having said that, though, once the year gets going we'll be watching to see what happens."