Residents urge pay increases for frontline school employees and restoration of itinerant nurse funding

During the meeting’s public-comment period two speakers asked trustees to prioritize staffing and compensation concerns.

Mr. Neil urged the board to prioritize an $18-per-hour starting wage for "underserved employees" including bus drivers, cafeteria staff and custodians, and asked for a plan to sustain magnet programs across multiple schools. He framed the raise as essential to retaining staff and ensuring continuity for students in magnet programs.

Miss Crawford, who identified herself as an itinerant nurse, told the board the district had lost funding for the itinerant nurse position that had provided floating coverage for schools. She said four school nurses are expected to leave next year, described high daily caseloads (for example, about 52 students at Kensington, including five students with diabetes), and asked the board to restore the itinerant position (previously funded as an LPN role) to support charting, billing and emergency coverage.

Why it matters: the speakers connected compensation and staffing to continuity of student services and safety, flagging concerns that shortages (particularly in nursing coverage) could strain front-line staff and impair service delivery.

Board response: trustees thanked the speakers, acknowledged the importance of nurses and front-line staff, and took the comments into account when discussing the draft budget and personnel priorities later in the meeting. No formal action was taken during public comment; the budget discussion that followed addressed pay and position priorities more broadly.

What’s next: the board will consider pay and position requests as part of the draft budget process and asked staff to return with refined budget scenarios that reflect board priorities.