School board finalizes pay increase for classified staff, approves superintendent pay increase

Summerland School Board of Education members approved pay increases for three categories of classified staff members and finalized the superintendent’s contract during the May 16 meeting.

Board president Steven Thiele said the Negotiations Committee met in April and reviewed items under consideration with Superintendent Kyle Finke.

“We wanted to reconvene this month because of a new state law that will take effect over the next three years as it relates to minimum wage,” Thiele said.

By 2026, per state law, minimum wage will reach $15 per hour.

The committee requested Finke and business manager Sally Finch reorganize classified staff job descriptions, roles and pay.

“We went with three different categories with our recommendation,” Thiele said.

Bus drivers will receive a $5 increase per route for transportation.

Hourly classified staff will see an increase of 75 cents per hour.

Salaried classified staff will receive a 3% increase.

Board member Nate Schwager said the committee looked at agreements reached at other area schools.

“A lot of area schools just went to a set dollar amount for hourly employees,” he said. “We tried to come up with a path where we want to be in the future.”

Finke said the bottom line, when lumped together is a 3.6% increase.

“It’s pretty fair wage increase at this time and something we can handle in the budget,” he said.

Schwager stressed that the committee “put a lot of time into it” this year.

“I don’t think it was taken lightly,” he said. “We had a lot of good conversations.”

The board also approved a 3% increase in Finke’s contract.

According to Thiele, Finke’s contract rolled over for the 2023-2024 school year. The increase is for the same period of time.