Vermilion Parish School support workers to get pay raise

While the decision to wear a mask or not wear one to school is not 100 percent decided with school just three weeks away, there is one thing that is 100 percent sure.
Support personnel (secretaries, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, janitors, plumbers, etc.) for the Vermilion Parish School District will be seeing more money on their next paycheck.
At Thursday’s school board meeting, the school board approved Superintendent Tommy Byler’s proposal to simplify the step-pay increase scale while at the same time giving the support workers a pay raise.
Byler gave a power-point presentation to the board members on each department of support workers and a breakdown of the average pay per hour each worker was receiving.
Byler explained to the board members a more straightforward step increase for pay raises and, at the same time, giving all support workers anywhere from a .25 cents to a $2 per hour raise.
The total cost for the pay raises would cost the school system $460,000 a year.
One example is a school secretary who makes $12.51 per hour using the old scale. The new scale puts that same secretary making $13 per hour.
School board member Chris Gautreaux told Byler, “It was a step in the right direction.”
Gautreaux also pushed to support workers in the maintenance department a higher increase because of what a plumber and electrician make away from the school system. Byler said those plumbers do not have a retirement, paid vacation, or paid insurance like those who work for the school system.
Chrystal Comeaux, who is a bus driver, thanked the school board.
“Anything will help,” said Comeaux.