Late Fall Special
A lot has been going on behind the scenes in RCEA land lately. Coming on the heels of our successful lobbying effort for a full two week winter break in next year’s school calendar, we jumped right into a very thorny issue and a cause.
As teachers and support staff began reviewing recent paychecks, many reported that they had been docked significant sums of money for missing the day before, day after, or day of a national holiday. Policies 5.50 and 5.51 in the RCPS policy manual clearly spell out that an employee will be subject to financial penalty if they take a personal leave day on one of the restricted days. What caught all of these people off guard this time was that the holiday, Columbus Day, was NOT a school holiday. It simply never occurred to these people that the county would penalize them for taking the day before, day after, or day of a holiday that wasn’t a holiday.
After much e-discussion with the personnel office, the RCEA and Mr. Hall, RCPS Assistant Superintendent of Personnel, have worked out language that will clarify the language in policies 5.50 and 5.51. At the School Board meeting on Thursday Dec 13, Mr. Hall will suggest that the words “National Holiday” be stricken from the policies. The revised policy will simply state that if a teacher or support staff member were to use a personal day on the day before, day after, or day of a school holiday, they will forfeit their pay for that day. So the new policy will greatly simplify the issue.
In addition to the policy revision, Mr. Hall is proposing that those teachers and staff members who suffered from this confusing policy interpretation will be fully credited their lost pay.
The other issue that the RCEA is in the process of tackling is our salary proposal for the upcoming school year. Our salary committee is made up of Thom Ryder, Sarah Hollett, Jennifer Burke, Sara Cann, and Judd Fredstrom with valuable advice coming from our Uniserv Director, Pat Wood.
This year the county is opening up the budget process to schools, groups, and organizations within the county system. An invitation for budget proposals was sent out by Assistant Superintendent of Finance/Budget, Penny Hodge. Proposals are due to her office by Dec 14, and all groups and individuals will be given an opportunity to present a case for their proposal before the full School Board on Jan 3.
After much debate and discussion, our salary committee is putting the final touches on our salary plan. We have noted, through meticulous research by Judd Fredstrom, that pay for Roanoke County teachers has been slipping in relation to the actual cost of living in our area by a significant amount over the last seven years. In addition, the relative standing of teacher salaries, in comparison with pay in neighboring school systems, remains in the middle of the pack (generally 3rd out of 8 divisions).
One issue that doesn’t get recognized by most people is that it takes a teacher in Roanoke County a very long time to realize real, positive salary growth. For example, it takes a teacher about 20 years to make it to the halfway point on the scale. Logic would dictate that the halfway point should be reached after about 15 years of service. That’s also about the time when teachers in Roanoke County make it to the state average teacher pay. Most other area localities reach that point well earlier in a teacher’s career.
We will propose a long-term approach to improving salaries in RCPS. For the coming school year, we feel justified in asking that the scale be adjusted one time in such a way that a teacher will reach the mid point of the pay scale at the mid point of their career. One way to look at that is to make sure that step 15 is halfway between step 10 and 20. Judd has crunched the numbers and has figured that the scale can be effectively realigned for well less than a million dollars ($1 million=approx 1% pay raise). Some teachers will receive more of a bump than others in this realignment. In addition to that realignment, we propose that all teachers and staff receive a 4% increase in their pay after the realignment. In each of the following two school budget years, we also propose a 5% pay raise across the board to teachers and staff.
We will lobby hard for these proposals and will work closely with the school board and the central office budget staff to make our plan a reality. We would appreciate your support.
Finally, I bring you the State of the County Address by Supervisor Chairman Joe McNamara. In that address, Mr. McNamara said, “While the Commonwealth is experiencing a 1.2% revenue shortfall (less than the 25 year average shortfall of 1.4%), the County reported a 3.5% surplus of revenues over projection.” Mr. McNamara finished his address with this quote from Harry S. Truman, “Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.”
The RCEA is working to change things for the better.
