Arguably the hottest topic during the Fort Bend ISD board meeting this week was not even on the agenda as a series of speakers used the public comments portion of the meeting to urge trustees to make employee pay raises a priority in the new budget.
The comments came on the heels of a recently-released compensation study done for the district by the Texas Association of School Boards.
The district commissioned the study after being pressured by the Fort Bend Employee Federation to take a closer look at employee compensation issues.
Federation President Karrie Washenfelder used the study to point out that some employee groups were below poverty levels established by the U.S. government.
“The reality is that many Fort Bend (ISD) employees are in dire straits, with classified employees living below the poverty line the U.S. Census sets at $21,027 for a family of four. The TASB report cites warehousemen, food service workers, bus drivers, custodians and maintenance foremen as below market in their categories,” Washenfelder told the board. “There is little reward for experience in these pay grades. Meanwhile, with below-average salaries our employees are grappling with a rate of inflation at 5.58 percent; the cost goes up every time you head out for groceries or to gas up at the pump. The reality is we need this cost of living raise more than ever.”
Washenfelder went on to point out that the district is fighting to keep an “instructional competitive edge” with Houston, Alief and Katy school districts. She noted that the TASB study pointed to a number of areas where Fort Bend ISD is falling behind.
Areas of concern cited by Washenfelder included:
• FBISD masters’ degree pay is $379 below the average.
• Aldine ISD beats out Fort Bend ISD in compensation for 15-20 year veteran educators.
• FBISD special education pay is $278 below average.
• The district gives no stipend for foreign language, math or science.
• Bilingual teachers are paid $1,465 below average.
• Athletic stipends are 17 percent below market.
“We have to stay competitive to attract the kind of personnel we expect to serve in these fine academies we’ve planted all across the district,” Washenfelder said.
She also pointed out the district has a $93.8 million reserve fund balance that can be used to fund raises.
“Though (the district) budget is $464 million, we have another $93.8 million in this savings account called an unrestricted fund balance,” Washenfelder said.
Washenfelder added that the reserve fund is $18 million over the maximum amount recommended by the Texas Education Agency to keep in savings, and the money can be spent “in any way the school board votes it should be spent.”
Washenfelder also reminded trustees that they previously promised employees a three percent raise. She urged them to consider that promise as being above and beyond the TASB recommendations.
“The money for this year’s raises were promised last year; we have the money now to give this three percent, plus four percent to classified (employees), along with recommendations of the TASB study,” she said. “Ultimately, good competitive salaries will attract the best professionals to serve our district. From food service to maintenance, from teachers and paraprofessionals to counselors and diagnosticians, we are all working to pull together to produce the very best results for our community – an educational climate where our children can thrive.”
According to minutes of previous board meetings, the district promised employees a 3.25 percent raise last year and was reserving a similar amount for this year.
Employee federation field organizer Anthony Lacsamana picked up where Washenfelder left off, pointing out salary discrepancies the TASB study found for some of the district’s lower-paid employees.
Lacsamana noted the study found entry level salaries for custodians were four percent below market, and five percent below for food service workers.
“TASB documents high turnover rates in both jobs,” he pointed out.
Lacsamana also noted the study found beginning salaries for bus drivers were 11 percent below market average and four percent below sampled area districts.
“Low entry rate salaries have made it difficult to attract bus drivers to Fort Bend ISD. The TASB study recommends $13.50 as a starting salary for bus drivers, but just off the Fort Bend Tollway one district is already advertising $14.11 per hour starting salary, so we are losing ground as we speak,” Lacsamana told trustees.
He also pointed out that the study found warehousemen are being paid five percent below market average, and district police officers are paid three percent below school district market average.
Lacsamana added that Fort Bend ISD police officers are scheduled to work 210 days, while other districts schedule officers to work 240-260 days. This, he explained, results in a lower overall salary, forcing officers to take other jobs and contributes to a high turnover rate.
“We urge the board of trustees to adopt the recommendations made in the TASB compensation study. Address internal inequity and inconsistent pay that affects every entry level as well as experienced personnel,” Lacsamana said. “We also urge the board to endorse a minimum four percent increase in pay for existing classified workers of the district above and beyond the TASB recommendations and commit to make Fort Bend ISD competitive in attracting, as well as retaining, qualified personnel across the board.”
Lacsamana also urged trustees to increase entry level pay for bus drivers, warehousemen, custodial staff and cafeteria workers, as well as adopt practices consistent with the Fair Labor Standards Act when posting positions and hourly rates.
“These team members play a pivotal role in the function of our district. Remember them as you make your decision,” Lacsamana said.
Joe Macias, a veteran warehouseman with the district, also spoke. He pointed out that warehouse personnel are not only underpaid, but are forced to work in non-climate controlled facilities.
“For years, the dedicated Fort Bend ISD warehouse employees have worked without heating or air conditioning. It is time for Fort Bend to enter the 21st, if not the 20th, century by providing its working with basic climate control,” Macias told trustees. “Temperatures, especially in the summer, are intolerable and the ventilation provided is inadequate. Furthermore, as more and more technological equipment is being warehoused, it seems that the district is wasting their investment by keeping these items at temperatures where they could disintegrate.”
Macias pointed out the work environment coupled with low pay makes it difficult to keep warehouse staff.
“We therefore ask that the board take advantage of the budget surplus to raise classified pay four percent, thereby providing a fair living wage, and provide basic air conditioning to address these vital needs,” Macias said. “Without these basic redresses, we fear that morale will continue to drop, causing more workers to leave this already understaffed area.”
District employee James Nelson also spoke up. He said both education professionals and paraprofessionals need a raise.
“In the last year, the cost of everything has gone up. If it cost us $100 a day to live a year ago, today it costs $103. Because of this increase in the cost of living, we come before you tonight asking that the board release the excess savings garnered from the people of Fort Bend County to increase the pay of professionals in our district by three percent and our paraprofessionals and support staff by four percent,” Nelson said.
Alluding to recent salary changes approved by the Houston ISD board, Nelson urged trustees to “meet the precedent set by our large neighbor to the east.”
“This is something we must do, or else our district will be allowing one of our nation’s most underpaid professions to further lose worth,” he said.
Nelson added that failing to increase salaries sends the message that employees “are worth less this year than last” and the value of a good education in Fort Bend ISD has decreased.
“Show us what we are worth,” Nelson urged. “The cost of everything has gone up. Show us we are valued in Fort Bend.”
Evelyn Scott, a district paraprofessional for eight years, said that last year she was making less than half of what a teacher made, “now I make a third.”
She added that she has been considering cutting her health insurance coverage because of a lack of money. Scott also said she had a petition with 1000 signatures on it urging the board to raise salaries.
However, even with a 4 percent increase, Scott said, the paraprofessionals’ salaries would remain inadequate.
“If you put 4 percent on not enough, what do you get? Still not enough,” she told the board.
Scott’s remarks brought a round of applause from about two dozen district employees who were present, all wearing red shirts designating their membership in the Fort Bend Employee Federation.
The show of support brought an immediate rebuke from Board President Sonal Bhuchar, who called the applause a “disruption of this meeting.”
“The audience will refrain from any public disruption of this meeting,” Bhuchar announced as she pounded a gavel.
Bhuchar’s remark was the only comment made by any board member in response to the speakers’ statements.
In addition to the federation members in the board room, another two dozen, also wearing right red federation membership shirts, watched through a closed-circuit television link in the lobby just outside of the board room.
One of the employees in the lobby, who asked that her name not be used for fear of retaliation from the district, called Bhuchar’s admonition an example of the “high-handed manner” the board takes toward employee needs.
“She’s arrogant; she doesn’t care about the employees and it sure showed tonight. She’s acting like a little tin-pot dictator up there, just like (former board president Cynthia) Knox,” the 15-year district employee said. “When they’re running for the school board, they tell you they’ll work to make things better for employees. Once they’re up there, they tell you to sit down, shut up and take whatever leftovers they want you to have.”
