Do you support pay freezes for school employees for all positions?

Jim Grabusky: I think one of the first things people do is assume that if you cut salaries that’s the only way to save money. You have to look at how salaries are set and where the money comes from and if the money is coming from their retirement. You need to look at the teachers and not hurt the teachers. The teachers need to be valued because they’re the ones with your children.

Jeffrey Dimmig: Yes, in fact I voted for those things. It’s not something I just came into. I voted for a pay freeze for the administrators last year. This year the president of the union asked for a pay freeze. That’s something we need to take a look at. I don’t think we ought to balance the budget on the backs of some of lower paid employees though. We absolutely should request a pay freeze for teachers.

William Lycett: I think it’s a very interesting question. Do I support it? If it would be justified in asking and voting yes for it. Last week in the West Chester School District – the administrators and teachers came to the school board and said “freeze us for a year.” I’d much rather be in a situation where teachers are coming suggesting it based upon their preference as opposed to saying that when it comes to our kids that the only thing we can look at in terms of a freeze is the salary. It is the absolutely largest contributor to the budget. But it needs to be in balance with everything else. So ultimately if that was balancing the budget, it’s something I would vote yes for, but I think you have to look at everything else first.

John Quigley: I’ll just say that I am in favor of that. The president of the teachers union asked for a pay freeze. We need to take a look at that. We have to look at all the costs, we’re going to be looking at ballooning pension costs. It would be nice if the teachers union initiated a request for pay freeze, but it’s something we’re going to have to look at.

Corrine A. Gunkle: I think it’s wonderful that our top administrators have already accepted pay freezes this coming year. I’m hopeful that our other administrators will follow suit. However, I will say that when push comes to shove, as Mr. Finn had mentioned, at the end of the day we are under a collective marketing agreement with the union. Are we going to push it all the way to a zero pay raise with a collective bargaining unit with the potential go on strike and maybe not be able to win arbitration? I don’t know if we’re going to go to that extent. I think that we have to see where we get to. One thing that I think is very important in asking, as I have said I very much think that our teachers are going to come to the table and the administrators are going to come to the table on this, the one thing that is very important is that they need to feel supported. I think that they need to feel valued. It’s not because they’re not doing a good job, it’s that we need everybody to come to the table and put something on it.

Editor’s Note: Answers have been edited for clarity and grammar. Content has remained unchanged.