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SIERRA VISTA — They’re close to wrapping up the 2007 Meet and Confer process — the annual mechanism by which Sierra Vista public school employees negotiate their compensation package for the following school year.
On Tuesday, the district’s governing board heard from representatives of various employee groups and individuals who wished to make a case for changes or adjustments to their salaries, benefits, rewards for extra education, job descriptions, requirements or conditions.
The governing board made it clear that approved increases are contingent upon the amount of money the district will have at its disposal for the 2007-2008 school year — a figure that remains in limbo until the state Legislature determines the state’s education budget.
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“We look to maintain equity,” said Bill Roach, assistant superintendent of schools and director of human resources. “Administrative jobs have a base salary that is keyed to a location on the teachers’ salary schedule (master’s degree, Step 20, $49,591) then receive an additional percentage based on their assignment.”
For example, an elementary school principal currently receives 20 percent above base, while a middle school principal receives 24 percent.
“There was a time when moving into administration from a teaching position might actually mean a pay cut,” Roach said, “and that’s not good to get a promotion and make less money.”
On Tuesday night, governing board members heard from building level administration spokesman John Wilson, who represented the district’s principals and assistant principals. They are asking for an increase in alignment with what teachers receive. In addition, they asked approval of a memorandum of understanding that would provide a substitute custodian on the first day of a regular custodian’s absence.
In discussion it came out that the district will try “new strategies” to develop an adequate pool of such workers, and that it’s not unusual for teachers to keep a vacuum cleaner in their rooms.
District level administrators Penny Morris and Rob Dillon asked for an assignment increase from 25 to 30 percent of base, due to the increasing stringency of administering federal and state grants as well as added programs under their respective departments.
School psychologists and speech therapists requested salary schedule increases commensurate with those provided to other certified personnel, such as teachers, and secretaries to the elementary school principals found no objection to having their positions extended from 10 months to 12 months a year.
The meet and confer wrangling begins in late January as different employee groups begin exchanging proposals with the district’s human resources department.
The single largest group is, of course, the certified teachers to whom other employees’ compensation is linked.
Buena High School teacher Barbara Williams was her meet and confer team’s spokesperson who presented to the board a benefits package and memos of understanding dealing with a variety of issues from buses for field trips to guest teacher compensation to the mentoring program for new teachers.
She also presented a proposed policy change to how training and professional development topics are selected, saying that teachers would like input on determining “what’s necessary and relevant.”
Williams concluded her presentation by telling the board, “We’re looking forward to finishing up the last few items.”
What she meant was that the certified team and district representatives have not yet concluded their meet and confer business.
“We’re down to the money issues,” Roach said. “We’ve been meeting every Tuesday afternoon for an hour or two and the goal is to finish up by mid-April. Then we can go back to the governing board with the salary items.”
Conspicuous by their absence was a team or individual representing the district’s approximately 400 classified employees, who, without specific proposals for wage increases will only be entitled to the district’s automatic longevity step-up in pay.
After some informal dialogue indicating that no one from that group wanted to take on a leadership role in the meet and confer process, governing board president Connie Johnson commented that it’s always the same people who take on those volunteer jobs year after year.
Referring to the classified employees, Johnson shook her head and said, “They have to look out for their own interests. I guess they took a break this year.”
And it will all come down to funds available.
Herald/Review reporter Cindy Skalsky can be reached at 515-4611 or by e-mail at cindy.skalsky@svherald.com.
shuni wrote on Apr 18, 2008 12:11 AM: