Lake School Board approves 2% raises for classified and professional employees
Payne Ray
TAVARES — The Lake County School Board approved a $1 million compensation package that included a 2% raise for classified employees, such as bus drivers, food service workers and custodians.
The package was the result of negotiations between Lake County Schools and the Service Employees International Union, which represents a large portion of non-instructional staff at schools. It secured raises for bargaining employees as well as professional and managerial employees who aren't covered by the collective bargaining unit.
The agreement which secured the compensation package was ratified on Monday, and approved at a special School Board meeting Tuesday night.
While the raise was a step in the right direction, SEIU spokesperson Kim Cronin said there's a massive amount of work left to do in the district regarding fair pay.
"Tonight, you'll be voting on our contract, which will give an increase of 2% to the pay scales which will affect all employees," Cronin told the board Tuesday night. "And I wanted to talk to you again, as I have before: one of the biggest problems we're seeing in the district right now is our current experience pay."
New employees in every classification still make more money, in many cases, than experienced employees who started out at lower rates, she said.
Both the SEIU and the Lake County Education Association, which represents teachers, have been arguing for a step-based raise system for years, which would ensure that teachers are paid for each year they work for the district.
District officials have said that creating raise systems like that, or guaranteeing a raise each year, has been made impossible by the way the Florida Department of Education distributes money each year.
The state did issue money this year to pay teachers, but it was mandated that it be used to raise base salaries for teachers, not to offer raises to current employees.
The district performed the minimum salary increase in October and threw in some of its own money as well, offering a small 1-2% raise then for people already employed by the district depending on what they made relative to the new minimums.
At that time, board member Marc Dodd noted the discrepancies in pay for experienced teachers when that increase was enacted.
"When I think about this, and now starting salary will be equivalent to a teacher with like, 12 to 16 years of experience, I just can't help but wonder what message the state is trying to send," he said at the September meeting.
At that same meeting, board member Bill Mathias, recently voted in as this year's chairman, said the district will need to hold fast to its commitment to seek funding equity for school districts across the state.
If the county were given an equitable amount of money for its student population, he said, the district would have $12 million more in the general fund that officials could use at their discretion. That kind of money would dwarf both the $7.2 million fund that allowed for teacher base pay increases and raises and the $1 million package approved Tuesday, giving the district the opportunity to eliminate the issue altogether.
According to the district, this isn't the last word on compensation between the district and the SEIU.
The package approved Tuesday also included a stipulation that the district work with the union to conduct a study through a joint wage committee, which will examine current pay rates by position.
After the study, the parties will meet again in February to revisit the topic of compensation.
"This is going to be a tough job to fix," Cronin said. "It's been building, and growing, and it will continue to do that until we try to do something to fix it."
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