School Employees May Get 5.4% Raise

The Oak Park Unified School District’s 18 nonunion employees may receive a 5.4% raise to keep up with the rising cost of living and the salaries of the district’s teachers and other unionized employees.

The district’s Board of Education will discuss the proposal at its regular meeting at 7 tonight at Oak Park High School.

The proposed raises total about $71,000 and would be for the district’s six principals, three assistant principals and two assistant superintendents, as well as director of accounting and risk management, food service director, technology coordinator and program specialist for special education and three executive secretaries.

The annual salaries range from $31,000 to $39,000 for an executive secretary to $45,000 for a food services director and $95,000 for an assistant superintendent, officials said.

The superintendent’s contract and compensation package are renegotiated separately.

Bob Fraser, assistant superintendent of human resources, said teachers and other employees who have a union to negotiate their contracts were given a raise last year. The 18 nonunion employees were not.

“This is by the way of a catch-up to bring everyone to the same competitive arena,” Fraser said, noting that the salary structure was reevaluated against the cost-of-living benchmark that accounts for inflation.

The total raise breaks down to 3.4% for the cost of living plus 2%.

“Since we are a small district, all administrators have responsibilities that go beyond their own school sites,” Fraser said.

The cost-of-living adjustment, worth about $44,000, has been accounted for in the district’s budget. The additional 2%, which will cost about $26,000, will come out of the district’s budget surplus, leaving about $171,000 in reserve.

The nonunion employees last received a raise of 4% in November 1998, officials said.