KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
On Wednesday workers from the classified staff in the William S. Hart Union High School District rallied in front of the district building to advocate for higher wages and equal benefits, bringing their protest into the board meeting.
Classified staff include workers who are not teachers, including teacher aides, instruction aides, bus drivers, custodians, campus supervisors, special education aids and more.
“Our classified employees are the hub of the district,” said protestor Janice Dennington. “How would the district function? It couldn’t.”
On the protest’s agenda was higher wages and equal benefits, asking the district board to grant a four percent pay raise and equal benefits. According to protestors, classified staff do not have the same dental and vision benefits as other staff members like teachers.
The board meeting took place at 7 p.m. and the protest moved inside to fill the meeting room. During public comment, protestors took the stand and expressed their frustration with inadequate pay.
“The district doesn’t offer competitive pay for classified employees,” said district accountant Jessica Smith. “If the district wants to retain employees they should offer a salary that goes with the cost of living.”
One of the issues discussed by classified employees was the increase in workload and expectation unaccompanied by appropriate pay raises or compensation.
“Ten years ago our caseload was 18 to 20 students with the goals of teaching them organization and time management,” said school-based therapist Michelle Garvin. “Currently we have 30 plus and our goals are keeping them alive and safe. Work is much more intense and we do it, no questions asked.”
Corey Christiansen, also a school-based therapist, went on to ask the board to consider the increase in workload and a pay increase that coincides.
Over the 2021-2022 school year Hart District staff have continuously shown out at board meetings to make a case for higher wages, including the teacher’s union and now classified staff.
A 3 percent increase in benefits is being considered by the board.
Sponsored Articles
KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Here is an example of a classified employee for the Hart School District:
Regular pay Overtime pay Other pay Pay (Less Benefits) Benefits Total pay
$81,892.14 $1,634.50 $0.00 $83,526.64 $25,936.20 $109,462.84
A salary of $81,000 and $25,000 in benefits, and by the way, they don’t work 12 months, not bad. While most private sector employees struggle to get $80,000 a year and have to pay thousands of dollars a year for private health insurance, struggling to meet their out of pocket deductible with no vision or dental. Also, welcome to the real world. Everyone who works in California has had their work load increase and most of the working class never sees a 4% increase in wages. Before you start writing negative comments, look up some of the district employees on California Transparency and look at their salaries with benefits, then you will see that most make a decent wage.
For what position/s are the examples you’ve cited?
The therapist in the article
Counselor
William S. Hart Union High, 2020 $112,353.96 $0.00 $10,565.84 $122,919.80 $33,652.34 $156,572.14
Director – Transportation
William S. Hart Union High, 2020 $117,659.84 $0.00 $4,522.80 $122,182.64 $39,943.93 $162,126.57
Psychologist
William S. Hart Union High, 2020 $89,498.05 $0.00 $21,622.97 $111,121.02 $37,700.98 $148,822.00
Coordinator – Special Ed
William S. Hart Union High, 2020 $134,508.48 $0.00 $3,396.00 $137,904.48 $31,599.91 $169,504.39
Best Example
Dir Classified Personnel
William S. Hart Union High, 2020 $128,074.24 $0.00 $4,368.00 $132,442.24 $35,575.19 $168,017.43
Just look at Transparent California and type in Wiilliam S Hart
They say they are not getting “competitive pay”. If that is truly the case then they can go work for the competitor for more pay. Very simple.
Joy and I are rooting for a big raise and increase in benefit’s for all the classified staff. We miss all of you and really hope you keep fighting no matter what it takes.
All our love
Tim and Joy Williams
Just find another job that you believe will suit you better so that you can quit bitching about the unfair system. What a bunch of loosers.
Dennis, take a look at lowest paid job : Instructional Assistant. Starting pay is $15/hr. That’s 6 hours per day, unpaid vacation and summer. You realize hourly workers are 9 month employees working directly with students. Add Dental and vision expense, and some IAs are paying above their salary for benefits. Besides last year, we hadn’t had a raise since 2015. Yet, the District continues to get COLA raises each year. Admins get pay raises while those of us at the bottom, working with special needs kids who bite, hit, etc, get lowest pay.