CLASSIFIED COUNCIL MINUTES

FEBRUARY 26, 2002

MEMBERS PRESENT: Bonnie Kelley and *Jean Salley, Secretarial/Clerical; Duane Pickett, Warehouse; Walter Kirk and Jo Ann Bright, Custodial; Doug Botkin and Russ Southworth, Maintenance; Bob Glass, Transportation; Leigh Ann Hogue and *Pam Smith, Instructional Assistants; and H. LaVerne Sallee, Food Service. (*Alternates present for absent regular representative)

ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT: Dr. Robin Fankhauser, Superintendent; Doug Marshall, Budget; and Elizabeth Simpson, Human Resources.

VISITORS PRESENT: Barbara Durham, Sharon Vardi, and Becky Jones, Transportation. James Patton, KESPA

OLD BUSINESS:

Follow-up was requested on the following issues from previous meetings:

• Instructional assistants working 179 days requesting to add one day. Doug Marshall reported the following: to add one day for these individuals calculated on the number of hours per day they currently work would cost the general fund $62,584.20. This will be presented to the Superintendent's Advisory Council (SAC) to be added to the budget priority list and presented to the board for consideration.
• New employees receiving the same amount of vacation as current employees. Doug reported the following: currently the twelve month salaried employees receive additional vacation days based on the number of administrative experience years, up to three additional days. If we considered allowing additional vacation days for twelve month classified employees based on the number of years they have been twelve month employees, it looks like we would have 122 employees with more than 15 years and less than 20 years, 57 employees with more than 20 years and less than 25 years and 23 employees with 25 years or more. This totals 305 additional vacation days (122 x 1 + 57 x 2 + 23 x 3). Assuming an average salary of $35,000, this would incur a cost of $48,859 ($35,000 / 250 = $134.62; $134.62 x 305 = $41,058 plus 19% for fringe benefits or $7,801). Although this would not be a direct cost to the district, there would be a cost in terms of productive work.

NEW BUSINESS:

Doug Botkin asked if it were true that elementary students are not permitted to sell (fund raisers) door to door. Dr. Robin responded that this is correct, they are not supposed to sell door to door for safety reasons.

Jo An Bright asked why a sub cannot be called in for custodial staff who are off work. Dr. Robin said she would check with Wayne Young to be sure, but in her opinion there probably are not enough subs to go around and they are used on a first come first serve basis.

Duane Picket asked if it is possible to let principals know the procedure for donations. Some companies donate items that should not be accepted such as paint and adhesive. Dr. Robin will address this with the principals.

Pam Smith inquired about pay schedule increases at 5 years, 10 years, etc. Elizabeth Simpson stated that an employee reaching those levels would get the increases, regardless of years worked.

Bonnie asked about rumors that only certified staff will receive raises for the 2002-03 school year. Dr. Robin stated that her budget submitted to the board did not seek salary increases for any staff due to the tight budget. She further stated that if money for salary increases becomes available, she will recommend the same raise for all employees.

Other items discussed:

An issue was raised concerning custodial staff with radios being directed to assist when a fight occurs. Dr. Robin stated that in no way does the custodial staff have the responsibility to intervene in breaking up a fight. However if staff is present and sees a fight, he or she should carefully try to separate the participants. Touching students becomes a liability, which should not involve the custodial staff. Staff that is present and takes part in the dissolution of a fight must report to the principal and complete a Critical Incident Report. Dr. Robin will address this issue with the principals.

When a student receives punishment for something he has/she has done in class, it is reported the student is being assigned to the custodian to help clean. The custodian should never be in charge of students. This is not to say if a student makes a mess, that he/she should clean it up - but as far as custodial staff supervising a student performing custodial duties, this must not happen. Dr. Robin will get with Wayne Young to discuss these two issues.

Another issue was how to deal with employees who are out of sick leave, personal leave, and emergency leave but still taking off. Dr. Robin said this too, will be addressed in a SAC meeting.

The next Classified Council meeting had originally been set for Monday, March 18th. It has been moved to Tuesday, March 26th at 5:30 p.m.

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Last update: 2/20/2004 4:00:50 PM