Merced schools’ workers get pay boost

The Merced City School District’s 489 classified or non-teaching employees got a raise this week, courtesy of the Board of Education.

Board members Tuesday night gave members of California School Employees Association Chapter 530 a 3 percent raise retroactive to July and a one-time stipend of 2 percent covering July through March, along with added contributions to their health insurance.

The board also gave Superintendent RoseMary Parga Duran and other top administrators not represented by a union the same percentage raises as classified employees and teachers. Duran’s salary is now $189,371 a year.

The raises will cost the district an additional $2 million.

Board President Darrell Cherf said the deal with CSEA is fair and consistent across the district. “It’s good to be able to do it, first of all,” Cherf said. “We had the money available.”

Board member Adam Cox said classified employees didn’t get raises for several years when times were tough. “With the cost of living, it was definitely time to give me them something extra in their paychecks,” Cox said.

Board member Gene Stamm said he feels good about granting the raises and the fact that no one group got more than the others.

Duran also said the salary agreements were fair, and she appreciated it that the board values the contribution of all employee groups.

In other matters, the board approved a contract with Chantilly, Va.-based vendor PCMG to buy 1,000 Acer Chromebooks. Five firms bid on the computer contract. The purchase will cost the district $293,108; the computers will be delivered to second-grade classrooms by January 2015.

The district will go to bid in March for a second set of the computers.

This story was originally published November 19, 2014 at 6:51 PM with the headline "Merced schools’ workers get pay boost."