CCSD reaches agreement with support employees for raises

The Clark County School District announced Tuesday it has reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement for education support employees that includes a salary increase and a one-step advancement on the salary schedule for each of the next two years.

The School Board will consider the agreement with the Education Support Employees Association and Teamsters Local 14 during a special meeting at 4 p.m. Friday. Union members will also vote on the pact.

About 13,000 support employees fill jobs such as teacher assistants, campus security monitors, custodians, bus drivers, food service workers, office staff and skilled trades.

“Our support professionals are integral to educating and preparing our students academically for their futures,” Superintendent Jesus Jara said in a news release. “Without them, we could not accomplish our purpose, and I am thrilled to close this contact prior to the start of school on August 7.”

Jara said he appreciated the good-faith efforts to close the contract and to “ensure the hard work of our Support Professionals is reflected in their compensation and benefits.”

The agreement, which is for the upcoming school year and 2024-25 school year, comes after months of negotiations and amid a contentious bargaining process between the district and the Clark County Education Association teachers union.

The district is still negotiating with CCEA and two unions that represent police employees over topics like pay, benefits and working conditions.

Last week, the district reached a tentative agreement with the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-Technical Employees. The agreement is also on Friday’s School Board agenda for possible approval.

The district said it will negotiate a separate agreement regarding “available monies” for support employees as a result of the state legislature appropriating $250 million to school districts for employee salary increases.

Support employees will see a salary increase of 8.65 percent during the first year (including a 1.875 percent boost that took effect July 1) and 2 percent during the second year.

Additionally, the agreement calls for a $15 per hour minimum pay for all support professional jobs, an increase in the district’s health care contributions and “various internal compensation adjustments.”

“Negotiations are never easy, but we believe this agreement provides important steps in the recruitment and retention of support professionals,” Education Support Employees Association President Jan Giles said in the release. “We look to the state legislature to continue funding education. It’s our intention to further increase support professional’s salaries and benefits as additional funding becomes available.”

Fred Horvath, principal officer of Teamsters Local 14, said the agreement is an “example of our continuing efforts over the last several years in partnership with the ESEA to advance positive changes to the overall culture and working conditions at the District.”

“This is the first time a tentative agreement has been reached before the school year begins in approximately twenty years, and we look forward to presenting it to our membership for ratification very soon,” he said.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.