Outgoing Superintendent Diaz pushes for 7 percent pay hike, and
an apparent violation of state law doesn’t stop a 5-0 Board
vote
Gilroy – In a unprecedented display of union-like solidarity, school principals and administrators stood up at Thursday night’s school board meeting and urged trustees to give them a 7 percent raise.
“You can support GUSD administrators by approving the same 7 percent as the other units have received,” said Martha Martinez, district administrator of state and federal funds, referring to the raises given to certificated and classified employees.
Paula Cornia, principal of El Roble Elementary School, followed Martinez, complaining that because she had to pay more out of pocket for medical coverage, her daily pay had decreased from when she was a teacher. Her salary as a step-25 teacher working 180 days was $74,889, or $402 per day, while her salary as a step 3 elementary school principal is $95,212, or $453 per day. With a 7 percent salary increase, her daily pay will rise to $485, or $101,876 per year.
Twenty members of school management, including Gilroy High School Principal Jim Maxwell, stood silently behind the speakers, where they would remain throughout the half an hour the board spent debating the proposal.
“My opinion is, and I’m very plain spoken, there’s people here that deserve a 20 percent increase and there are people that deserve no increase,” said Trustee Denise Apuzzo.
Trustee Jaime Rosso, however, made an immediate motion to approve the proposal and Trustee Patricia Midtgaard swiftly seconded the motion.
“This is a critical time for us,” Rosso said. Then, motioning to the school administrators gathered, he continued, “We need to support our leadership and this is our leadership.”
“I think, to say that we wouldn’t give 7 percent to you is very, very disconcerting to me,” Midtgaard added.
While Apuzzo insisted she would abstain, citing improper negotiating procedures and a lack of information regarding employee performance, Diaz became agitated, saying he had provided all the necessary information for the trustees to make a decision.
“I think what this is really about is acknowledging the role of leadership in student performance and valuing that leadership,” he said.
The back-and-forth continued for 20 more minutes, resulting in a 5-0 vote, with Apuzzo and Bress abstaining, in favor of a raise for the school administrators, who refer to themselves as the Unrepresented Employees.
The pay increase will cost the district an additional $390,061 annually.
Trustee Francisco Dominguez, who voted in favor of the pay increase, said he was worried about the procedure that was followed to give the teachers the raise and would like to consider tying performance evaluations to raises in the future.
“What’s an issue today is not what’s settled today. What’s an issue for me is what’s projected for the future,” he said.
