LETTER: Support staff pay is far too low

I have been reading a lot on the staffing shortages at the Clark County School District. I wanted to comment on my experience applying for a support position with the district.

I applied for an instructional assistant position at a Henderson middle school. I have five years of teacher assistant experience from another state and a bachelor’s degree in business management. I am semi-retired and felt that getting back into helping in the school district part time would be wonderful, as I love working with kids.

I interviewed with the principal of the school and two assistant principals. The district website at the time didn’t post the salary, so I asked in the interview what the pay would be. Not one of the three administrators knew. When the principal called me back to offer me the position, I asked again what the pay was, and she said she didn’t know. From my understanding, she asked someone in the front office and they stated $11.48 per hour. I was shocked.

I declined the position stating that I could go work at McDonald’s for more.

I then called district’s Human Resource Department to confirm the pay, and they stated that it would be $12.07 per hour.

I am a qualified and quality candidate. To get offered that low of a salary is a slap in the face, and I am not surprised they cannot keep support staff.