Gilroy Unified School District’s three highest-paid administrators were each given 2 percent pay raises on their base salaries, matching the same percentage increases negotiated for its non-instructional classified staff in March.
Under the California School Employees Association new contract, a school office coordinator earning $42,636 per year received an additional $71 per month in March, plus retroactive pay of $639.54.
The salary increase approved for District Supt. Deborah Flores will be more than five times the increase in the office coordinator’s paycheck. Flores received a retroactive pay bump back to July 1, 2017, which boosted her annual base salary from $217,175 to $221,519, according to the resolution approved by the Board of Trustees April 19.
That means her next paycheck will include an additional $3,620 in retroactive pay plus a $362 monthly increase.
Flores also inked a new four-year agreement from July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2022 “unless otherwise terminated or extended.”
“The Board of Education appreciates and values the contributions of the superintendent of the district (Flores) and wishes to encourage her to stay in her leadership position for many more years to come,” the resolution states.
The same salary increases were granted to Asst. Supt. of Business Services Alvaro Mesa, whose base salary climbs from $187,291 to $191,037, and Asst. Supt. of Human Resources Paul Winslow, whose annual pay goes from $162,125 to $165,368.
Meza’s contract extension runs through June 30, 2022. Winslow’s contract runs through June 30, 2020.
“The superintendent and assistant superintendents deserve to have the same salary increase offered all other employee bargaining units,” according to the April 19 agenda item. “The CSEA bargaining unit has already ratified a 2 percent salary increase for the 2017/2018 school year. The extension of the term of agreement is to recognize their contributions in the positions they hold and for the service to Gilroy Unified School District.”
Gilroy’s management and confidential employees, which are not part of a bargaining unit, also received a 2 percent retroactive salary increase, for a total cost of $177,564 for the 2017-18 school year, according to the staff report.
Meanwhile, Gilroy’s largest bargaining unit, the Gilroy Teachers Association, has yet to come to an agreement with the district. Contract talks reached an impasse between the two sides and an outside mediator has been brought in to try and work out a compromise.
The district is offering the same 2 percent pay increase and no additional contribution to the health care package. The certificated staff, which includes teachers, have been working without a contract since June 2017. They are asking for a 6 percent pay raise and for the district to contribute an additional 5 percent for health benefits. The two sides continue to meet for negotiations.
A “Me Too Clause” also was part of the Civil Service Employees Association compensation package, which states that “the salary schedule adjustment shall not be lower than any across-the-board percentage salary increases negotiated with any other bargaining unit.”
