Classified Workers Ask High School District for a Raise

It may not be the most convenient of times to ask for a raise. But San Mateo Union High School District workers in administrative and other roles told trustees last night that pay increases were needed if the district hoped to retain qualified personnel.

Associate Superintendent Kirk Black, speaking to board members on behalf of the workers' union, said the raises were necessary to make the district's pay competitive with others nearby. The district's chapter of the California State Employees Association (CSEA) requested the pay increases for the clerical and accounting positions represented by the union.

The presentation came as part of the classified union's collective bargaining process with the district. Classified employees are those who do not hold teaching credentials and work in administrative, maintenance and other roles.

The district currently faces up to $6 million in cuts to balance its budget next year, and -- fresh on the heels of a -- has already issued pink slips to 55 temporary teachers in an effort to balance its budget. (Pink slips have in many local elementary school districts.) The layoffs are not final, and staffers may be forced to wait until the fate of Gov. Jerry Brown's budget is decided to know whether they will be rehired next year.

The union is requesting wage increases for eight clerical and two accounting positions. The most significant raises requested are for payroll technicians, to the tune of $6,636 annually, and $4,953 annually for assistants in the human resources department.

If approved, payroll technicians would make between $47,606 and $57,864 a year and HR assistants would make between $43,026 and $52,324.

The only other classified employee group in this pay range asking for raises is the student data analyst, requesting $2,056 more annually, which would bring that salary window to between $43,026 and $52,324.

Black said the raises would be necessary if the district wished to retain its employees. If the raises are approved, it would increase the district's annual payroll by $650,000, according to a district report.

Trustee Linda Dwyer said that it's likely the job requirements of these positions have changed over time and that the employees are not being paid appropriately for training they have received.

"There must be some training and classes that we weren't compensating them for," she said.

In asking why payroll technicians may deserve more money per year, board vice president Robert Griffin suggested that it may be because it is in the best interest of all district employees to competitively compensate those in charge of their paychecks.

The union is also asking the board to approve reducing the work year of future hires in two jobs -- school attendance records clerks and staff assistants -- from its current 10.5 months down to the length of the school year plus 10 days.

Black said an approval of the reduced work schedule would mean fiscal savings for the district, but didn't quantify that amount.

No action was taken at the meeting, and the district will respond to the proposal during its the collective bargaining process with the CSEA.

Tax Proposal in Trouble

In other budget business, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Elizabeth McManus informed board members that Gov. Jerry Brown was struggling to get votes from the four Republican legislators necessary to get his tax extension  proposal put before voters in a June election.

Passage of the tax proposal would save K-12 education from Brown's budget axe as he works to close the state's remaining $12 billion gap next year.

But Trustee Peter Hanley doubted whether Brown would be able to garner the votes he needs in Sacramento in order to get the tax extension on the June ballot.

"I don't know how he is going to get those votes," he said.

Time is running out for the state Legislature as it faces a Tuesday deadline to put tax initiatives on the June ballot, said McManus.

"It's pretty serious at this point," she said, and encouraged the public to put pressure on state legislators to get the tax extension passed.