Hollister School District trustees tabled a discussion about contract changes for classified management and approved an artists in the schools program at this week’s meeting.
Superintendent Gary McIntire proposed that the district shorten the work year of classified directors from 227 days to 220 – putting the number of days these employees work on the same level as their certificated management peers.
Under current district contracts, classified directors work 260 days a year. With 13 paid holidays and 20 paid vacation days subtracted out, though, the total work year sums up to 227 days.
McIntire still remembers the last time he tried to fill classified director positions and had to tell job candidates about the 260-day work year, which is 30 to 40 days longer than the work year for similar positions in many neighboring school districts, he said.
“We’ve had a number of candidates when the positions are advertised call and say, ‘Is it 260 days because if it is, I’m not interested,’” McIntire said.
The item was on the discussion and action item section of the agenda, but trustees chose to table the conversation after listening to public comment.
“What I was seeking was equity,” said McIntire in an interview Wednesday. “My purpose was that we had certificated and classified people that have the exact same salary.”
Artists in the Schools
At the same meeting, trustees unanimously approved a collaboration between the district and the San Benito County Arts Council’s program called Artists in the Schools for the 2014-15 school year.
The program allows students to see cultural assemblies and to collaborate with artists-in-residence at their school sites.
“That was in our district last year and we’re doing it again this year,” McIntire said. “They do so many neat things and it’s a very rich program.”
To pay for it, the district committed to spending between $1,000 and $1,500 for each school so every site in the district can organize a program. Individual schools each committed to sharing $400 of funding toward the programs.
Calaveras School will pay a little bit more for its programing, putting in a $1,000 school match for a 13-week artist-in-residency program for seventh graders. The program at Calaveras will be taught by artists from the San Juan Bautista-based El Teatro Campesino and will include teachings that fit with California history standards.
Coming up
The next regularly scheduled school board meeting is Oct. 28 at the district office on 2690 Cienega Road in Hollister.
