SAUGUS — The School Committee delayed a vote on next year’s budget after members said they were surprised to find non-union raises included in the proposal. The board now plans to vote on the package on Tuesday.
“I know everybody works hard and everybody deserves a raise, but we had to fight for months, or even years, to get the teachers a 2 percent raise,” said chairwoman Jeannie Meredith.
Superintendent Dr. David DeRuosi recommended a $29,359,141 budget for Fiscal Year 2019, which would be $783,000 more than Fiscal Year 18. Committee member Elizabeth Marchese questioned a 2 percent raise for 37 non-union School Department employees, including principals, administrators, and some clerks. The line item totals more than $40,000 and is included in the proposal as a critical need.
“Critical needs, to me, is supplies for children,” said Marchese. “I am going to suggest that we categorize that $40,492 and save it for something for the children. I’m not saying I don’t value our administrators, so please don’t get me wrong.”
While the department doesn’t have enough chromebooks and is lowering fees for athletics and other activities, Marchese said she would rather use the money to restore a teaching position, add programs such as robotics, purchase books, or help the Parent Teacher Organizations.
Committee member Marc Magliozzi agreed he’d rather see the money go toward classroom learning and helping teachers afford creative lessons without having to depend on donations from parents.
Meredith said administrators, clerks, and other non-union employees would receive three 2 percent increases in a little over a year. She said 2 percent was given on June 30, 2017, and the budget calls for a 2 percent increase in January and on July 1, totaling 6 percent in one year and one day.
The pay increases are intended to make up for the years employees went without a raise, said Pola Andrews, the executive director of finance and administration for the School Department. The 2 percent given in June was for the 2015-2016 school year, she said.
“Two years without a raise is basically what it came down to,” she said. “That money is not just for administration. It’s for all non-union employees, which includes medical support staff, OTs, PTs, non-union clerks.”
Meredith said the committee typically negotiates all raises. She struggled with the idea that a flat rate of 2 percent was included in the budget, she said.
“Typically this committee votes the number to give Dr. DeRuosi to allocate for those raises and it seems that has kind of gone by the wayside and he just has a flat number of 2 percent that he’s going to give everybody, every year, and it seems to have gone through,” said Meredith. “When you add the numbers and you crunch it, it’s a lot of money. It’s at a time when we’re cutting, cutting, cutting. It just seems like there should be some more conversation with the committee.”
The panel will meet in executive session at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday to discuss contract negotiations. They will then return to an open meeting to vote the budget.
