Clark County School Board OKs new support staff contract

The contract, similar to the one sealed with teachers this month and offered to other employee groups, also includes a 4 percent increase in health care contributions for each year of the contract.

Longevity stipends will increase by $250. Employees in their 25th and 26th year will receive $750; those in their 27th and 28th years will receive $1,000; and those in their 29th year or more will receive $1,250.

The raises should increase the lowest starting salary in the general support staff salary schedule to $11.12 per hour, while health care contributions will increase to roughly $599 per employee in 2019-20 and $623 per employee for 2020-21.

“I’d like to thank our members for their involvement as well as the district for its support and cooperation during this process,” said Jan Giles, vice president of the Education Support Employees Association. “Education support professionals are the heartbeat of the district and are dedicated, hardworking employees.”

It’s one more contract that the district has crossed off of its list for a group that routinely feels undervalued and whose members are divided over whether the ESEA should represent them.

Support staff employee Terri Shuman brought attention to the salary table and the fact that employees who fall among higher steps must wait for several years before moving on to the next step — all for an incremental salary increase.

Tracy Bradshaw-Taylor, who works as support staff for in-house suspension at Sunrise Mountain High School, said the district must realize that it has to start paying people for their skills.

“You’re losing people because I have to hold two jobs in order to stay in a job that I love,” she said. “And I have just realized this year that I can’t do it any longer. I have to give up working with kids and go get a job that’s going to feed my family.”

Contact Amelia Pak-Harvey at apak-harvey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4630. Follow @AmeliaPakHarvey on Twitter.