Bus drivers, food service workers and custodians at San Benito High School have entered into an agreement with the district that spells out a 6 percent raise this school year and an additional 4 percent in the next one.
Members of the San Benito High School California School Employees Association – which represents classified staff including bus drivers, campus supervisors and maintenance and operations workers – ratified the contract Wednesday. The trustees – with the exception of Mary Encinias, who did not attend the board meeting – unanimously approved the agreement.
“We were able to move very quickly,” said Superintendent John Perales on Thursday afternoon. “We mirrored the teachers’ settlement, which was 6 percent this year, retro to July 1, and 4 percent next year.”
At the same meeting, trustees reported a decision made in closed session, to increase salaries of administrators who do not have union representation by 6 percent. Those affected by this raise include the newly hired school Principal Todd Dearden who joined the staff this past summer, along with assistant principals and administrative secretaries. Perales’ contract was not included in this group as the superintendent is evaluated separately by the board later in the year and compensation is adjusted accordingly at that time.
“What they did is the board agreed to a one-year, 6 percent increase for that not-represented group, which mirrors what the teachers got,” Perales said.
The raises follow a contract the district made with the San Benito High School Teachers’ Association in mid-October. That agreement promised a two-year contract with a 6 percent raise this school year and an additional 4 percent in the next one.
“There’s been a longtime history at San Benito High School District of what some folks refer to as a ‘me too’ where, when the teachers union settles, usually the classified union will follow behind them and ask for the same settlement,” Perales said. “So essentially that’s what they did.”
Under the new contract, classified employees will also get a $300 bonus in December during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 school years. The teachers association negotiated the same benefit in their contract approved earlier this year.
