Paso Robles teachers want a pay increase. Will they take school district’s offer?
Unsatisfied with the most recent salary increase offered by the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District, teachers picketed before Tuesday’s board of trustees meeting.
The district offered teachers a 1.5% pay increase and a one-time $3,000 stipend, according to district Superintendent Curt Dubost.
“We currently feel this is the most we can offer,” Dubost told The Tribune.
Dubost added that the district must be “extremely cautious” about increasing ongoing costs both out of due prudence for maintaining the district’s budget reserves and because of the “hard lessons” learned from a previous administration’s mismanagement of funds.
The proposed salary increase from the district is not enough, said the teachers, who have demanded a 5.07% increase.
Teachers at the Paso Robles district say their incomes aren’t high enough to pay for the increasing costs of living in San Luis Obispo County. They also say their health insurance, which is about $600 a month, is unaffordable given their current salaries.
Some teachers have told The Tribune that they work multiple jobs to make ends meet.
Teachers at the Paso Robles district have not received a salary increase in three years.
The average salary for a Paso Robles teacher is $71,640, according to the California Department of Education.
Teachers at Paso Robles Joint Unified are the fourth-highest paid in San Luis Obispo County, on average, compared to eight other districts.
Paso Robles teachers are specifically demanding a 5.07% pay hike because the district, like all districts in California, received a 5.07% cost of living adjustment (COLA) from the state. That adjustment increased the school district’s budget by more than 5% compared to last fiscal year’s budget to compensate for the rising expense costs for schools in California.
“We are not asking for a raise. We are asking that the ongoing cost of living adjustment that has been allocated by the state be applied to the salary schedule of all employees,” Paso Robles Public Educators president and Paso Robles High School teacher Justin Pickard said at Tuesday evening’s board meeting.
“We must try harder to balance the discussion of ongoing costs and the effect that it plays on the stability of the district, workforce and, ultimately, that of the district,” Pickard continued. “We must try harder to make positive impacts on one of the most critical resources in the educational system: its employees.”
Paso Robles teachers are set to continue negotiations with the district later this week.
Dubost said he hopes the parties can come to an agreement soon.
