At least a dozen attendees in Gilroy held up signs reading “Re$pect,” “Good faith bargaining” and “We make a difference” during a March 20 school board meeting as they demanded trustees take a look at contract negotiations for paraprofessionals this school year.
“In the past two years, the duties of para(professional)s have expanded greatly, but pay has not expanded with those duties,” said Arti O’ Connor, president of the federation.
Commotion during the public comment period of the regularly scheduled Gilroy Unified School District meeting came just two weeks after Gilroy Federation of Teachers and Paraprofessionals proposed a 9 percent salary increase retroactive to August of 2013 during a March 6, 2014 school board meeting. Also on March 6, the school district presented its own contract reopener that offered extending the term of the current agreement and improving salary compensation – but only within budgetary fiscal constraints.
Negotiations between Gilroy paraprofessionals’ bargaining unit and the district follow on the heels of an agreement for the 2012-13 school year approved by trustees Feb. 6. The agreement includes an ongoing annual 1.5 percent salary increase, along with increases in statutory benefits.
The district’s unrestricted reserve – 9.58 percent at the first interim report shared with the school board in December – was 5.31 percent in a second interim report shown to the school board on March 20. The reserve must stay above the state minimum of 3 percent, although school board trustees have discussed keeping higher reserves so that the district could weather a state financial crisis without having to cut employees.
The Gilroy Federation of Teachers and Paraprofessionals represents 100 Gilroy teacher aids, district translators and instructional assistants.
For more information, visit the Gilroy Unified School District website.
