GLENDALE : Pay Hike for School Board Sparks Protest

A second employees’ union in the Glendale Unified School District has formally opposed a $350 monthly pay raise for members of the Board of Education, the organization said Monday.

The 30-member Glendale Support Services Assn.--which represents counselors and other specialists--fired off a letter protesting the raise late Monday to the board, said union President Kathy Frazier.

The union is less angry about the raise itself than about allegations that the board accepted it at an informal meeting last summer without notifying the public, Frazier said.

“In the future, we would like them to be open with us and the public,” she said.

The group’s action follows a similar protest by the 1,200-member Glendale Teachers Assn. against the raise, which increases board members’ pay from $400 to $750 a month.

Both unions are accusing board members of violating the state’s Ralph M. Brown Act, which requires that legislative bodies hold public meetings unless dealing with legal, union bargaining or employee issues.

The teachers union demanded that the raise be rescinded and threatened a lawsuit, moves that were not taken by the Support Services Assn.

“The counselors feel that at this point, we have a new board that’s pretty open-minded to us--talking to us and hearing our concerns,” Frazier said. “We don’t want to have the board feel that we are putting ourselves at an adversarial position with them.”

Board President Jane M. Whitaker said the board would not comment on the issue, on the advice of the district’s lawyers.