GREENSBORO, N.C. — A compensation plan was presented to nutrition workers in Guilford County Schools following a walkout Monday in regard to their salaries.
After reviewing the compensation plan, demonstration leaders argue not much is different from the original compensation plan.
District leaders said School Nutrition Services (SNS) assistants will receive the remainder of their increase in the December paycheck. Over the last year, the board voted for a 4% increase for SNS and only 2.3% of the increase was implemented, according to GCS officials.
The new wage for SNS assistants will be $15.86 per hour in 2023 as the starting pay was $12.25 per hour in 2021.
The plan includes a 7% salary increase for most nutrition managers. Demonstration leaders say this is the only change when compared to prior plans.
SNS managers who were held harmless based on their prior year's salary will receive a minimum of a 4% salary increase, according to the district. Two percent of the salary increase has already been implemented for most. Their December paycheck will reflect the rest of the salary increase.
The wage for SNS managers will be a minimum of $18.60 per hour compared to a $13.75 per hour starting pay from 2021.
SNS managers serving over 100 meals on average per day will qualify for a pro-rated quarterly bonus.
The superintendent says they worked to come up with this plan and they will continue to advocate for the next budget plan.
"I believe it's a reasonable solution. I do think there's more work to do but we're going to need to do it together as we move forward and how we advocate really does matter. But we also know that students deserve to be fed every day and we're committed to doing that. Within hours today we were able to deploy 200 people from other jobs to go and be hands-on in schools. We can't do that sustainably, we need our school nutrition staff," said superintendent, Dr. Whitney Oakley.
The district is making preparations to ensure we are able to provide meals to students on Tuesday and posted the following message for parents on Facebook:
Good afternoon, GCS families.
You may have heard about a walkout of cafeteria staff today as a demonstration of their concerns over pay. We understand their concerns and we value these hard-working employees. We do not know how long the walkout will last. However; the district is making preparations to ensure we are able to provide meals to students tomorrow, including reassigning central office staff, deploying pre-approved volunteers, and securing meals from qualified vendors as needed. Our top priority remains the well-being of our students. We are in conversation with our cafeteria workers to address their concerns and hope to have a resolution soon.
Thank you and have a good evening.
Although an offer has been made, the nutrition staff is expected to call out on Tuesday, Nov. 28.
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