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Support staff urge board to adopt living-wage floor and restructure pay
Summary
Multiple education support professionals and teachers told the Maplewood Richmond Heights School Board the district's lowest starting wage—about $16.71—falls well short of a $22/hour living-wage benchmark and urged a salary floor, a near-term market reset, and step-schedule reforms.
Public commentators at the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District meeting on Jan. 15 pressed the board to raise pay and change job classifications for education support professionals.
Dawn Colnaghi, the high school's building secretary, told the board the district's “lowest starting wage is $16.71 an hour,” which she said is “nearly $6 below the survival line” calculated for St. Louis County. She proposed three structural changes: “a salary floor of $22 per hour,” “an immediate 18.5% wage increase,” and a reworked step schedule requiring a minimum 4% step increase.
Mark Bishop, an educational support professional at the ECC and MRH alumnus, said he has worked multiple part-time jobs to support his family and asked the board to review job descriptions so compensation reflects duties when TAs assume lead responsibilities. “Being the best means valuing every educator who builds relationships,” he said.
Other speakers—Glennis Wagner (middle school administrative assistant), Bethany Novy (MRH NEA treasurer and bargaining co-chair) and Jenny Sweeney (preschool teaching assistant)—described low pay, intergenerational ties to the district and the effect on retention. Wagner said at age 62 she has struggled to meet living costs and urged the district to “set the precedent on paying support staff the living wage.” Novy tied stronger retention to collective bargaining and urged extending commitments to support staff.
Several speakers noted structural problems they believe depress pay: inconsistent TA versus teacher-aide titles, substitute pay that in some cases exceeds TA pay, and lack of a clear compensation model for when support staff perform lead-teacher duties. Heather Hanrahan urged the board to consider a range of options, including extending teacher-negotiated provisions to support staff, enabling collective bargaining for support staff, or creating a certified TA position that recognizes higher credentials.
The board did not take immediate action on the public comments during the meeting; items related to budget amendments and salary schedules were discussed in later agenda items. The session provided administrators with multiple specific requests and a record of community concern the board can reference during upcoming budget deliberations and contract reviews.
