Oxnard Elem. seeks to pay a living wage
Officials are concerned that implementing the proposal would cut important programs
By David Michael Courtland 08/28/2008
Balking at an added expense to an already strained budget, Oxnard Elementary’s school board postponed a decision whether to pay schoolyard monitors a minimum livable wage at it’s Aug. 20 meeting.
Trustees were taken aback by the estimated cost of implementing Oxnard Elementary School Board member Denis O’Leary’s plan to establish a livable wage for district staff, setting the minimum any employee could be paid at $12 per hour.
Budget and Finance Director Lisa Cline estimated the cost at more than $300,000. Cline said scaling O’Leary’s proposed minimum back to $11 per hour would still cost another $240,000, and even starting from $9.50 per hour would be $196,000 more.
“My first reaction is, this number is much higher than I thought it would be,” said O’Leary, who said he had expected the plan to cost only $50,000 to $60,000 more. “My second thought is, this is the amount we are shortchanging our employees.”
O’Leary, who is running for re-election to his seat on the board in November, remained resolute that the district’s first priority should be making sure staff are getting paid enough to make ends meet.
“I apologize that my perceptions were wrong, but we have a responsibility to our community,” said O’Leary, “and recognizing our employees will go back to our community because our teachers are not the only ones who teach our kids.”
But Superintendent Rick Miller cautioned that regardless of what final cost was agreed on, it would mean taking money earmarked for other things and spending it to meet the living wage standard.
“Whatever amount of money you settle on, there is a cost; we would have to find money for that,” Miller told the board, noting it has already cut several million dollars from the budget for the fiscal year. “We have a balanced budget, and no state budget.”
That prompted Clara Ramos, the district’s classified staff association chapter president, to make clear she would fight any plan that might cause staff layoffs.
“I agree with you, Denis. The only problem is, where is the money coming from?” asked Ramos, who offered to work with O’Leary on finding places in the budget from which funds could be reallocated. “I hope that when you go through that budget, you’re not laying off any CSEA staff — years ago we had some fat. Now we have none, we’re cutting into the bone.”
O’Leary’s proposal would mostly affect 147 playground aides, the part-time monitors who watch children on playgrounds. Currently, they are paid the state minimum wage of $8 per hour, often for only a few hours per week.
The plan would also include 104 substitute clerks, custodians and special education aides, or a total of 251 part-time district staff.
O’Leary said his understanding is that only five other school districts have established a livable wage, and that Oxnard Elementary would be the first one west of the Mississippi River to do so.
Other trustees indicated they were generally sympathetic to O’Leary’s goal, but unwilling to risk adding to the district’s financial burden.
“Nobody is inclined to adopt this at this time,” said Arthur Lopez, who suggested adopting the plan in concept, so that “when things take a turn for the better, we can come back and take this seriously.”
O’Leary was unwilling to be easily dissuaded, however, calling the lack of a minimum livable wage an embarrassment.
“I’m not proposing this for show,” O’Leary said, adding that he takes it as his responsibility to see that district employees are able to make ends meet.
“We have hard-working people having a hard time paying the bills,” said O’Leary. “It’s not going to help that the board agreed in principle to provide them with a living wage.”
Lopez suggested the compromise O’Leary ultimately agreed to, having a committee of people work with O’Leary to come up with a better-researched plan in two months.
“As I look at this, I realize we’re not going to be able to do this just by looking at the budget,” said Lopez. “We need a committee that makes sure everybody’s concerns are addressed and everything is fair.”
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