Breaux Bridge – The St. Martin Parish School Board approved a new School Resource Officer contract with the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office and approved the purchase of seven new air conditioned buses at its Aug. 6 meeting, but rejected a reduction in work hours for the Pupil Appraisal staff to seven hours per day.
The board also voted to require five years of service before being vested in the board’s group health insurance coverage.
The board approved other matters as well, including reducing the amount it sets aside for its “rainy day” fund from 25 percent to 10 percent of the total general fund expenditures; the renewal of contracts with Prouet Architecture and Engineering; lease agreements with CDI for the Cecilia and St. Martinville Head Start facilities, and a request from the St. Martin Economic Development Authority for a contribution of $29,055.50.
The board’s Finance Committee forwarded those recommendations to the board, which approved them at its regular meeting immediately after the committee meeting, with the exception of the decision on the working hours for Pupil Evaluation staff.
Two members of the Pupil Appraisal staff — Pupil Appraisal/Child Search Coordinator Wendy Breath and Tonia LaJaunie — gave a presentation to the Finance Committee regarding their request, with several interruptions by board members.
Breath said staff brought up the pay disparity between Pupil Appraisal employees and teachers in the spring. St. Martin Parish pay its teachers with masters, masters plus 30 and specialist education levels between $2.35 per hour and $2.99 per hour more than it pays Pupil Appraisal staff, depending on years of service (0 years, 20 years and 30 years).
Hours
“Specifically the fact that per hour, Pupil Appraisal are compensated at a lower pay rate than those on the teacher salary schedule,” Breath said. “At that time, administration was provided with multiple points of data to illustrate that disparity and record our request for a reduction of the work day from an eighthour day to a seven-hour day, essentially asking for our work day to end at 3:30 rather than 4:30.
“A reduction of the work day at that time was requested rather than an increase of pay, knowing that the budget is a matter of concern at this time.”
The administration approved the reduction of hours but was advised upon returning to work that the reduction would not be approved.
Board member Mark Hebert asked if that meant the Pupil Appraisal staff was comparing itself to teachers.
“Just the pay per hour,” Breath said.
“So it’s yes?” Board member Marlin d’Augereau said.
“The pay per hour,” she said. “The salary schedules.”
But Board member Richard Potier asked if the Pupil Appraisal staff worked recess duty, lunch duty, or afternoon duty like teachers do and said that may be the reason teachers are paid more.
“They get paid more than the teachers, not per hour, but I’m telling you, they make just as much as assistant principals — not the high school principals, but assistant principals and principals from junior high on down,” Hebert said. “Most of y’all are making more than them. I mean, I’d be happy if I was y’all. Plus, y’all just got a $2,400 raise (as part of the school system’s raise to professional employees). In addition to the $2,400 raise, y’all got indexed also, so that’s two raises y’all got.”
“So what y’all asking for, just not to work?” Board member Steve Fuselier asked.
“No sir, we’re not,” Breath said. “We’re asking to be compensated comparably.”
Hebert said that where he works, some salaried employees work 100-plus hours a week at certain times of the year.
“And listen, for those in your department for the great job that they do, keep on doing it, I think,” Hebert said. “But it’s the ones that aren’t doing it and giving your department that (trouble) that everyone’s looking at maybe you might start talking to your coworkers and tell them, ‘look, this is the reason why things are happening this way.’” LaJaunie presented the board with information comparing St. Martin Pupil Appraisal staff pay with that of surrounding parishes.
St. Martin had the second lowest index level of salaries of the seven parishes, and the second lowest salaries of the parishes studied, and the longest work hours of 18 parishes studied. Acadia Parish Pupil Evaluation staff works nine hour days but only four days per week.
Some other parishes have similar hours but 60 minute or 45 minute lunch breaks rather than the 30 minutes in St. Martin Parish, or work fewer months than the 10 months in St. Martin.
The school system evaluates students in non-public schools as well as an equitable service because of federal grant requirements, St. Martin Schools Federal Programs Director Pamela Jordan told the committee.
Breath said that the department is a revenue-producing department for the school system.
Staff members do academic assessments, behavior assessments, analyze data about student performance, observe students in schools, interview parents and teachers and students, then compile the information to determine whether a student has a disability or special need, and provides recommendations to the schools about what steps should be taken to help the students.
Wanda Vital and Edna Johnson were the only board members voting to approve the reduced hours with seven other members voting no.
New business
The school board adopted a resolution approving acceptance of a bid for purchase of $30 million in General Obligation Bonds.
Grant Schlueter, the managing partner for Foley & Judell law firm that specializes in public finance, told the board that there was a lot of interest in the school board’s request for bids with six bids submitted, a high number.
The winning interest rate of 4.28 percent was among the better ones compared to other bond interest rates that were bid out in recent weeks.
Schlueter said $10 million from the bonds will be available Sept. 4 for school improvement projects with an additional $422,000 bid premium from the purchaser that also will go into the construction account.
Steven Nosacka of Trinity Capital Resources, a municipal financial advisors and consulting firm, told the board that the bid premium was based on the credit and demand for the school board’s bonds.
