Minutes - April 19th, 2023
Classified Staff Advisory Meeting Minutes
Legislative Update
The meeting began with Dr. Ellis greeting everyone. Dr. Ellis started talking about the legislative update, stating that the budget is a priority, followed by the school calendar. Our house representative passed a bill that would give us calendar flexibility. The bill immediately went to the Senate, and the Senate assigned it to the Senate Rules Committee. Dr. Ellis met with the senator recently and spoke with him about the importance of the bill. Dr. Ellis said that we will continue to push for calendar flexibility.
Budget Update
The House of Representatives passed a budget that calls for a 10.2% average raise for teachers and a 7.5% average raise for everyone else over a two-year period. If it passes, we would get a 4.25% raise for all classified employees this year, and a 3.25% raise the following year. The average raise was 4% for state employees last year.
On the local level, Montgomery County Schools requested an increase from the county commissioners; we have yet to hear back at this time. We have a plan to raise the salaries for longer-tenured classified employees and have requested $300,000 from the commissioners to do this. Dr. Ellis wants to differentiate pay for classified employees based on years of service and reintroduce the pay scale. The district also requested $300,000 for inflation and $500,000 to continue our employee retention bonus. Dr. Ellis stated, “We are trying to focus on salaries and raise them for everyone.”
Questions?
Drivers are asked to drive, and they don't drive. People are still here and don't have their driver's licenses, and some people have a license and still do not drive. The cafeteria staff should be driving. Every school with full-time workers must check why they are not driving. There should be some type of bonus for all drivers and custodians who work every day, all the time.
If you are aware of an issue, please report it to administration. We continue to have the bus class and we are focused on having enough drivers. If you are aware of a specific issue somewhere, it will be investigated.
Why do part-time workers not get any incentives that are bonuses at the end of the year?
There are some advantages to being full-time. If the district rewards full-time and part-time at the end of the year, the amount for full-time gets smaller. We will continue to reward full-time employees and entice part-time employees to become full-time, primarily through encouragement to get a bus license and a full-time bus route.
When do we get the retainment bonus, and how much is it?
The last retention bonus installment will be released in May. It will be $1,500. This is a promise to work all next year. If you know you will not work, do not take the money. Supplements will be coming around that time, too.
How can we avoid field trip bus driver burnout?
Please work on evenly spreading driving a bus around. We want to avoid burnout.
Do all cafeteria workers have a bus license?
Managers, assistant managers, and part-time are not required to have a license.
How long will the summer program last?
The summer program begins on June 12th and ends on June 29th. The 10-hour days start on June 26th.