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Longtime middle‑school secretary urges board to fix pay and workday changes affecting secretarial staff
Summary
Janice Kaufman, a middle‑school secretary of 26 years, told the Fairfield Community School District board that recent changes to secretarial pay scales and workdays have left some secretaries effectively demoted and without full‑time status; she asked the board to implement pay parity and to consult secretaries before finalizing changes.
Janice Kaufman, a secretary at the middle school for 26 years, told the Fairfield Community School District board during public participation on May 18 that recent changes to secretarial pay scales and assigned workdays have left several secretaries feeling demoted and financially disadvantaged.
“We are often the first people to greet parents, field calls, provide daily support to students and staff,” Kaufman said, summarizing the secretaries’ role and asking the board to move pay changes up so secretaries receive the same effective date as recently approved associate pay increases. Kaufman said the six secretaries represent a combined 118 years of experience.
Kaufman recounted that some secretaries will lose days of work and vacation under the newly issued letters of employment. She said two secretaries (identified in her remarks as Amy and herself) lost full‑time status and about 45 workdays plus 15 vacation days. Kaufman provided a specific pay example: a 22‑year secretary listed at $20.25 per hour, which she said is $4.25 more than a first‑year associate but several dollars below what a 22‑year associate would earn under the associate scale. She urged the board to address the gap sooner than the district’s current timetable.
Kaufman also said secretaries were not included in the same face‑to‑face meetings as associates during the change process and asked for clearer, earlier communication; she quoted an administrative message apologizing for poor communication but said an apology without timely corrective action was unsatisfactory. “Why wait a year and bring the secretaries up to the same level as everybody else?” she asked.
Board members did not take immediate formal action during the public comment period. The board moved on to new business after Kaufman’s remarks. The district’s written timeline for any pay or workday changes, and the board’s plan to respond to Kaufman’s request, were not specified in the meeting record.
