The non-instructional employees of Broward County Public Schools are receiving a slice of the referendum pie.
On Tuesday, the school board approved supplements from the Secure the Next Generation Referendum Renewal for staff such as custodians, school bus drivers, and maintenance professionals.
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Voters approved the referendum a year ago, agreeing to tax themselves to help the schools, and a couple of weeks ago, the school board determined teachers would each receive an average of $10,600 in supplemental money.
The non-instructional personnel will be getting a 5.5% bump in their pay.
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“If it wasn’t for us, things wouldn’t happen, folks, it wouldn’t happen, your kid wouldn’t get to school, things wouldn’t get repaired, bathrooms wouldn’t get taken care of, so it’s important to always think of those non-instructional people who work every day for the school district because they care about kids, too,” said Jim Silvernail, president of the Federation of Public Employees, the union which represents those staff members.
"If we’re going to maintain this idea that we’re going to be the very best, we’re gonna move to an A, we know that every group is important, every staff member is important, everyone counts,” said Broward Schools superintendent Dr. Peter Licata at a news conference held after the school board voted. “We need to make sure we’re putting our money where out mouth is so we’re gonna continue doing this because we will be an “A” district and this helps retain our staff and our employees to make sure that they know we respect them."
Only one school board member, Brenda Fam, voted against including non-instructional staff, saying the public voted to support teachers, school safety, and mental health programs.
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"You have held yourselves out as putting teacher wages, safety and mental health as the three top priorities," Fam said to her colleagues during the board meeting. “Not clerical services, not IT services, that’s not what this referendum is for nor what it’s supposed to do."
To clear up any confusion, the superintendent asked the board’s attorney, Marilyn Batista, to read the text of the ballot item.
“Increasing compensation to recruit and retain teachers and staff,” Batista said, reading the text out loud.
The key word there was staff, meaning every district employee can benefit from the referendum dollars.
“Whether you are a teacher in the classroom, or you’re the cafeteria worker or the bus driver, or the safety personnel, or the clerical and yes, including the principals and our assistant principals, we all know we all work together to make our schools whole,” said Anna Fusco, president of the Broward Teachers Union.
Fusco and Licata are just getting started on negotiating a new contract for teachers. There will be a raise, beyond the referendum money, but the amount has not yet been determined.
