Classified staff at Sequim School District want their piece of the McCleary pie.

At the Sequim School District school board meeting on Sept. 17, classified staff — paraeducators, maintenance and custodial employees, secretaries, transportation, and exempt administrative employees — and their supporters voiced the need for equitable wages as classified unions remain in collective bargaining with the district.

Classified staff asked the district for $703,574 of state funding to be equitably distributed to classified positions; district officials later said the district has received about $669,000 for those positions.

Union representatives claim the district received the $703,574 from the state to increase classified salaries per the McCleary ruling in July.

“The intent of McCleary was to enhance salaries for classified and certified (staff),” said Elizabeth Joers, Sequim Association of Paraeducators president.

Cristi McCorkle, a Washington Education Association representative involved in negotiations for the paraeducators union, said the money allocated for classified salaries is based on a number of factors including regionalization and the full-time-equivalent (FTE) count for classified staff in the district.

Joers said paraeducator bargaining started in July and remains in negotiations. She said with the passing of the McCleary ruling this is an opportunity to make paraeducator salaries a profession that supports living wages.

Union representatives say beginning paraeducators take home about $1,100 per month and work part-time hours about six hours per day, five days a week.

Joers said paraeducators play several different roles in their daily jobs, mostly aiding in classroom instruction and providing reading help to students.

Paraeducators represent about 48 percent of classified staff, according to numbers presented by union representatives, with 73 paraeducators in the district.

“We’re just asking for what is fair and equitable,” Joers said. “That’s how we came into bargaining.”

Before the board meeting on Sept. 17, 30-40 paraeducators rallied along North Sequim Avenue and West Fir Street to advocate for salary increases and equitable living wages.

Linda Sundquist, a paraeducator at Greywolf Elementary School, rallied with other paraeducators on Monday. She is a single mother and became a paraeducator to work during the same hours that her daughter attended school so she could be home with her daughter at night.

Sundquist said she holds a Bachelor of Arts and has been an employee with the district for 14 years and is making a little more than $16 per hour.

Voices heard at public comments

At the board meeting, several parents and staff acknowledged the work of paraeducators and the impact their work has had on students at Sequim Schools.

“You all know the intent of the McCleary ruling was to bring educators and support staff salaries up to a living wage in order to fully fund public education,” said Carol Lichten, a paraeducator at Greywolf Elementary School.

“I can’t say what the district’s bargaining team is offering to paraeducators, but I can say it’s not reasonable and nowhere near the living wage. If we’re all important then all of us should get an equitable piece of the pie.”

Erik Wiker, a parent of several students at Sequim schools and high school physical education teacher, said he had a son that struggled with reading throughout school and was able to get the extra help he needed because the staff was there to help him.

“That’s an impact for a lifetime,” he said. “As a teacher, I teach adapted P.E. at the high school and I see the paras on a daily basis working wonders with the kids.”

District response

Sequim Schools superintendent Gary Neal said he could not confirm the district received $703,574 in state funding for classified staff but the district intends to use state funded money allocated for salaries for that purpose.

“What I can confirm is the money allocated for salaries is being used for salaries,” Neal said.

“(The district) is looking at how this (funding) plays out for the next four years. We have to go through the amount given to us, fit it in and make it work with the number of employees we have.”

District officials would like to see how this year goes with the new state funding and salary models, Neal said, so the district is able to plan accordingly for the following years.

“We certainly agree to the hard work they (classified staff) do and the importance they have in the public education setting,” he said.

“We can’t do this without them and we need them, but we have to allocate our resources appropriately.”

Reach Erin Hawkins at ehawkins@sequimgazette.com.

Paraeducators from Greywolf Elementary School, from left, Kerry Webb, Janet Wheeler and Linda Sundquist, join about 30-40 other paraeducators that rallied along the corners of N. Sequim Avenue and West Fir Street before the school board meeting on Sept. 17 to advocate for sustainable living wages. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins Paraeducators from Greywolf Elementary School, from left, Kerry Webb, Janet Wheeler and Linda Sundquist, join about 30-40 other paraeducators that rallied along the corners of N. Sequim Avenue and West Fir Street before the school board meeting on Sept. 17 to advocate for sustainable living wages. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins

Elizabeth Joers, a paraeducator at Greywolf Elementary School and Sequim Association of Paraeducators president, spoke at the school board meeting on Sept. 17 and asked board members for equitable salary increases for equitable employees as the union remains in negotiations with Sequim School District. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins Elizabeth Joers, a paraeducator at Greywolf Elementary School and Sequim Association of Paraeducators president, spoke at the school board meeting on Sept. 17 and asked board members for equitable salary increases for equitable employees as the union remains in negotiations with Sequim School District. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins

Classified staff and school board meeting attendees squeeze into a packed board room on Sept. 17 as several paraeducators, parents of students and other spoke during public comments to advocate for equitable salaries for paraeducators and classified staff at Sequim School District. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins Classified staff and school board meeting attendees squeeze into a packed board room on Sept. 17 as several paraeducators, parents of students and other spoke during public comments to advocate for equitable salaries for paraeducators and classified staff at Sequim School District. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins