Custodians urge board to make $3.50 hourly differential permanent; superintendent says budget includes it

Members of SEIU Local 32BJ told the Jefferson County Board of Education on April 8 that a $3.50 hourly differential for custodians and hourly plant operators has been critical to workers' pay and asked the board to make the stipend permanent after federal funding ended.

"If we lost that $3.50, that would be over a $7,000 decrease in our yearly earnings," Jonathan Ward, a JCPS custodian and SEIU member, told the board. "School board, we are calling on you to make sure that our workers are treated fairly so that JCPS can be the best that it can be. Make sure that we don't lose the $3.50."

Kelly Charleston, a plant operator, said some plant operator twos previously were salaried and ineligible for the stipend; after a reclassification this month those workers joined SEIU but still were not receiving the differential because of classification differences. Charleston said, "I supervise custodial staff, 10 custodial staff, in a school of 2,000 students ... and I make $7,000 less than my fellow plant operator."

Superintendent Polio responded to the speakers and told the board the $3.50 differential is included in the district's budget for next year. He cautioned that the board will still take the official budget vote in May: "The $3.50 differential stipend per hour is included in our budget for next year... our board still votes on all of this, when we do our budget, tentative budget in May." Polio said he would look into the classification issue raised for plant operator twos.

Ending: No board vote on pay changes occurred at the meeting. Speakers said they will continue to press the board ahead of the May budget vote.