[originally transmitted on Elwood Community Network, 5/16]
Coming just about a week after the District's Custodial Staff courageously, and responsibly, agreed to significant concessions (without onerous and budget-busting demands), our District's Paraprofessional Staff "...have agreed upon the terms for a new contract that will freeze salaries and steps for the next year."
This is also a wonderful decision by these very dedicated employees, who now join the Custodial Staff, who had joined the District's Central Office Administrators (again, without future budget-busting demands), who joined the one who started the compensation cost-savings efforts (again, and certainly, without future budget-busting demands), our innovative Superintendent of Schools.
Clearly, some people really care about the students and the District and the taxpayers more than they care about any selfish personal financial gain. They also recognize that we are all, indeed, in this together, and the long-term health of the District is in everyone's best interests.
The announcement, pasted below in its entirety, was posted on the District's website tonight.
Jerry Hannon
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Paraprofessional Staff Agrees to New Contract with Capped Increases
The Elwood Paraprofessional Union and the Elwood Board of Education have agreed upon the terms for a new contract that will freeze salaries and steps for the next year.
This three-year agreement, coming just a week after the Elwood custodial unit agreed to significant contract concessions, adds another 50 Elwood employees to the staff who are doing their part to help the district’s children and residents.
Most paraprofessionals in Elwood are community residents who generally work part-time, supporting our programs for students by assisting staff, working in the cafeterias, and helping students with special needs.
The new agreement calls for a complete freeze with neither overall nor step increases for the 2011-12 school year. The initial year is followed by two additional contractual years that will not increase salaries and longevity above 2% in each year and may be lower, depending upon implementation of a state tax cap, and it freezes step increases in both additional years as well. It should also be noted that this agreement represents the entirety of the increase in compensation.
The Board provides thanks our paraprofessionals for joining our custodians, central administrators and Superintendent of Schools in their concessions aimed to preserve the programs, services, and staffing on behalf of the Elwood community.
About Me
- Jerry Hannon
- After a thirty year career at Chase, serving as a Managing Director and Global Relationship Manager, I took early retirement in the summer of 2000, and that enabled me to become active in community, school district, and town activities. Since 2004, I have been a member of the Elwood School District's Citizens Finance/Budget Advisory Committee, and since 2005 I have been a member of its Audit Committee, and serve on three other committees of the district. During the 2006/07 school year I was President of the Elwood PTA Council, and I remain active in PTA activities. In the community I serve as EVP for Community Affairs of the Old Chester Hills Civic Association, and served the Town of Huntington as a member of its Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee. For thirty five years, I have been a Director of the NY Council of the Navy League, and currently am Chair of its Audit Committee. A Vietnam Veteran, I retired as a Commander in the US Navy Reserve, and previously commanded two Naval Security Group reserve units.