TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

School Contract

ADVERTISEMENT

Robin Britt

Published: November 30, 2007

An open letter to the School Board and superintendent of Highlands County:

I am writing this letter to express my dissatisfaction in regard to the school board's offer to raise the Educational Support Professionals salary by 2 percent. Due to circumstances beyond our association's control, we have been working under last year's contract until Nov. 9, when the school board/superintendent presented this "offer," and I use that term loosely.

I understand that the district has the authority and responsibility to set aside a certain percent of monies for employee's salaries (raises). What I don't understand is the reasoning behind their only offering us a 2 percent raise especially considering that the teacher's got at least an 8 percent raise over 2 years, and administrators received 3 percent raise for the current year.

The Educational Support Professionals Association represents all employees who are not teachers or administrators. This entails every job that needs to be performed in running a school system: cafeteria workers, custodians, bus drivers, paraprofessionals, mechanics, secretaries, clerks, maintenance workers, facility workers, etc. In short, we are the people who are responsible for cooking, cleaning, driving, remediation, repairing, typing, for the school children of Highlands County.

We are dedicated and loyal employees, including over ¼ of us who have been employed by the county 16 or more years. Without all of our services, the children could not begin to be educated by even the most outstanding teacher.

Many of us come early and stay late past our contract hours without compensation. We attend school functions and help and contribute to events and programs that benefit our schools and students. We do this because of our love for the children and our devotion to help educate them.

A 2 percent increase in our salary feels like an insult to me. It makes me feel that the school board and superintendent do not consider what I do, and how I do it, an important or valuable contribution to our children's education.

This will be my 25th year with the school system. At my rate of pay, and my years of experience, with a 2 percent increase, I will gross 36 cents per hour. That equates to a gross pay increase of $466.50 per year. After taxes, maybe enough for a couple of tanks of gas?

In closing, I would like to be able to understand how the school board/superintendent have the ability to pay almost 8 percent of their budget for the teachers, 3 percent of their budget for administrators, and such a small amount to non-instructional bargaining employees. By the way, have the non-bargaining employees been offered the same 2 percent?

I urge all my fellow colleagues to vote "No" on Sunday., Dec. 2 (at Sebring High School at 2 p.m.) to ratify our contract, thereby asking our bargaining team to return to the table to try to get a contract with a raise that is an increase over 2 percent.

Robin Britt
Sebring

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT