SANTA PAULA : Teachers Awarded Salary Increases That Average 6%

Santa Paula High School teachers and counselors will receive an average 6% pay raise under a $3-million contract, putting them on par with the average county salary of $40,000.

“We have a situation where we can not only attract quality teachers, but we can retain them as well,” said Ray Sepulveda, president of the Santa Paula High School District Federation of Teachers.

District officials and teachers announced the 1992-93 contract Wednesday morning.

Although teachers had asked for a pay raise of 8 1/2%, the union voted 43 to 2 last month to accept the district’s offer of 6% to avoid eliminating athletic programs, the band and portions of the agricultural program, officials said.

The district’s 57 teachers and counselors will receive raises beginning June 1, with a minimum increase of 2.7% and a maximum increase of 11.5%, he said.

The school board voted unanimously this month to accept the one-year extension of the three-year contract.

For 4 1/2 years, teachers have received a total increase of 26%, said Tahir Ahad, director of fiscal operations for the Santa Paula Union High School District.

On Wednesday, teachers and district officials praised one another for improving the school budget, which three years ago had a $25,000 deficit and no money in its reserve account.

Now, the district plans to spend $500,000 more this year and boasts a 3% reserve, Ahad said.

“We have a very good working relationship,” Ahad said of teachers and district officials.