School District's Classified Staff Receives Raise

After nearly half the board members recused themselves because of conflicts of interest, four members approved a raise for the district’s classified staff that was half of what was recommended by administrators.

With Dave Richlen, Russ Spahn and Cathy Walsh in another room during the discussion and vote, Bruce Bailey, Don Carlson and Len Cich voted in favor of a 2 percent raise for the district’s 55 full-time classified staff members and its nearly 100 part-time classified staff members in a meeting Monday.

Classified staff members, who do various tasks in the schools and central office, include secretaries, aides, para-professionals, food service staff and computer technicians.

Board member Pam Sierzchulski voted against the 2 percent raise because she felt the staff deserved more. Both Sierzchulski and Bailey voted in favor of the administration’s suggested 5 percent raise and Bailey’s follow-up motion for 4.5 percent, but both motions failed when the vote tied 2-2.

“This staff has not received any increase the last two years,” Sierzchulski said. “They are more than deserving. I think it is irresponsible not to give it to them. I think it would be insulting. They cooperated with us when we had to make budget cuts. I think the least we can do at this time is compensate them fairly.”

Bailey agreed.

“We need to keep our staff happy,” Bailey said. “They’ve been working hard. They’ve taken a hit in the WRS contribution. This is not totally what I wanted, but I will vote for this level because we don’t want to be deadlocked.”

Carlson, however, said while the staff is likely deserving of the raise, uncertain economic times and a new budget cycle swayed his support to the lower 2 percent amount that was eventually approved.

Farner said a 5-percent wage increase had been built into the 2011-12 budget. He said the classified staff was particularly hit hard by the required pension contributions as a result of Act 10 and the district’s switch to a higher-deductible insurance plan.

Spahn’s wife is a secretary at . Walsh said her husband is considering applying for a part-time aide position at and Richlen bowed out because his mother-in-law is an aide at Glenwood.