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Classified employees press Lancaster School District for higher pay, cite health‑insurance costs
Summary
Classified employees urged the Lancaster School District board to improve wages and benefits, saying health-insurance premiums can consume 30–40% of a six‑hour employee’s pay; the district said it will continue negotiations and noted recent wage increases and one‑time bonuses.
Classified employees urged the Lancaster School District Board of Trustees on Tuesday to make compensation and benefits a higher priority as contract talks with the district enter bargaining.
Kia Monserat, a bilingual paraeducator, told trustees that classified staff ‘‘show up with professionalism’’ but face growing financial strain, saying that for many six‑hour employees ‘‘premiums consume 30 to 40% of a paycheck.’’ She asked the board to partner with staff to reach ‘‘meaningful actions’’ that would improve wages and equitable benefits.
Maria Yishu, vice president of CSEA Chapter 297, said the chapter filed an initial successor contract proposal and expects to meet with district negotiators by Friday to ‘‘fine‑tune’’ contract language. Another CSEA representative, Maria Hu, said the union and district will review both certificated and classified contracts cover to cover.
Special‑education paraeducator Maria Gaspin said paraeducator starting pay is low enough that ‘‘I could earn more flipping burgers at In‑N‑Out,’’ and she cited the district’s pay range for one para classification as roughly $18.09 to $21.99 per hour. Gaspin said low pay contributes to turnover and makes it difficult to retain staff for specialized roles.
The board thanked classified staff for their work and said it is negotiating collaboratively. A board speaker noted the district has increased wages about 17% over five years and issued a 29% one‑time bonus for staff in recent years, while acknowledging that those steps do not guarantee immediate changes to every concern raised.
What’s next: Both sides said they are meeting this week to continue bargaining. CSEA presented an initial proposal at the meeting; district staff said they will review contract language on Friday and continue negotiations.
Sources: Public comment by Kia Monserat and Maria Gaspin; CSEA filing and vice‑presidential statement by Maria Yishu; district remarks at the meeting.
