Support-staff contract with 10.5% annual raises cleared for board vote March 5, Charlottesville schools say
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Summary
Charlottesville City Schools presented a ratified school support professional collective bargaining agreement that includes a 10.5% annual salary increase, educational credit supplements, paid breaks and duty-free lunch; the agreement will be presented to the board for a March 5 vote.
Miss Lewis, the division’s collective bargaining lead, told the Charlottesville City School Board on Feb. 19 that the school support professional collective bargaining agreement has been ratified by the bargaining unit and will be presented to the board for a vote at the March 5 meeting. “This agreement includes a 10 and a half percent salary increase, educational credit supplements, paid breaks, and duty-free lunch,” Miss Lewis said.
Board members thanked negotiators and bargaining partners for reaching a tentative agreement. Miss Bryant thanked staff and the Charlottesville Education Association and said she was “really excited” that support staff “will be getting some support and getting the things that they need.” Miss Cooper also praised the work of staff and leadership in bringing the agreement to ratification.
An unnamed board member criticized delays in the process leading to this point, saying both parties reached a tentative agreement in October and that an attempt to reopen agreed terms in January slowed final submission. The board member said the experience demonstrates a need for clearer timelines in the division’s collective bargaining resolution so future cycles proceed without similar setbacks.
Miss Lewis said the agreement was the product of months of collaboration between the division and the bargaining unit. She confirmed the bargaining unit ratified the agreement and that the board will consider final approval on March 5.
If adopted by the board, the contract will raise support-professional salaries by roughly 10.5% annually under the terms the division presented; over the life of the contract, a board member said, support-staff salaries would increase by more than 31% (a cumulative figure reported by the board). The board did not take a final vote on the contract on Feb. 19; the division circulated the full contract document and placed the item on the March 5 agenda for formal action.