Kent School District employees will get a 5.5 percent pay raise for the upcoming school year. The school board approved the increases at a special meeting Tuesday night.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The increases will cost the district an additional $11.6 million.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The pay increase includes a 3 percent cost-of-living increase set forth in the state budget for K-12 employees.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
As a part of negotiations with the Kent Education Association in 2013, the board approved a 4.75 percent increase for teachers in 2013, a 3.6 percent pay hike in 2014 and a 2.5 percent raise for the upcoming school year.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The board decided to give the 5.5 percent increase across the board, including to employees not represented by a union.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The board unanimously approved the increases for the KEA and Kent Principals’ Association, but the vote was 3-2 in favor of the pay hike for non-represented employees.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Board president Karen DeBruler, vice president Debbie Straus and board member Agda Burchard voted for the increases, while board members Russ Hanscom and Maya Vengadasalam voted against the pay hikes.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Hanscom and Vengadasalam said they felt the increases for non-represented employees further income inequality, since many of the non-represented employees are among the district’s top paid employees.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“To give 5\u00bd percent to the most well paid in the district while those with the lowest paying jobs struggle, I just don’t support it,” Hanscom said before the vote. “The income gap has gotten greater and greater and greater. There is a lot more wealth in fewer folks’ hands, and for me this a microcosm of that when I have an opportunity to close a huge problem in our society where the wealthy continue to get wealthier and those that are struggling continue to struggle. … It is a missed opportunity for me and it stings and it hurts.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Vengadasalam said the money could be used in other areas in the district<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“We are not paying attention to our programs and our buildings and what is missing in middle schools,” she said. “There are important issues that are not addressed.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Straus said the across-the-board increases made the most sense.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“To single out one group would not be fair,” she said.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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