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An interim legislative committee on Thursday approved approximately $56 million in funding for additional raises for teachers and support staff in seven school districts. Representatives from three of the districts went back before lawmakers for a second time after facing issues with their applications, questions about plans for raises and being tardy at school. Last meeting in December.
The Washoe County School District, the second largest school district in the state, requested the maximum amount (more than $38 million) for the $250 million matching fund created during the 2023 legislative session under SB231. The raises funded through SB231 are in addition to raises approved for educators over two years made possible by the historic $2.6 billion increase in K-12 education funding approved during Congress. become something that
The Interim Finance Committee (IFC), an interim group of lawmakers that decides on state spending while the Legislature is out of session, has approved a total of $18 million for six school districts, including Humboldt and Douglas counties.
Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannazaro (D-Las Vegas), one of the bill’s sponsors, said, “I’m really pleased to see that plans to offer significant raises to our employees continue to be brought forward.” The pay increase is “the crux of what we were trying to accomplish this session.”
In December, the commission adjourned at the request of Clark, Churchill, Lander and Ryan county school districts. The meeting took place before the Clark County School District concluded contract negotiations with the Clark County Education Association, the teachers’ bargaining group. However, the district had signed new contracts with support staff well before the December meeting.
Committee Chairman and Assemblyman Daniele Moreno Moreno (D-North Las Vegas) said the district is expected to submit a budget increase plan to provide salaries for both teachers and educational support professionals. , said Clark County’s request is incomplete. Monroe-Moreno said the commission will also defer a request from Lander County, which has not reached an agreement with support staff to match Clark County’s decision.
The Churchill County School District’s request was rescheduled after district officials were unable to attend the meeting on time. The commission also put Lyon County’s request on hold after hearing concerns about the allocation plan from the Lyon County teachers union.
The commission Thursday gave Lander County School District permission to return with the same partial request to provide funding for teacher raises while negotiations with support staff continue.
Lander County Superintendent Russell Klein said he contacted IFC last month after a tentative agreement with the district’s support staff fell apart and the union declared an impasse. He said he didn’t want additional raises for teachers to be held hostage during the arbitration process and was excited to see the IFC approve the district’s partial application on Thursday.
“I think there was a shift in sentiment – in my opinion – that they took a step back and said, ‘Our ultimate goal is to put money in teachers’ pockets.’ So why me? Are we locked down here?” Klein said in an interview after the request was approved.
The Lyon County School District also appeared before the board for a second time Thursday. Before the school district could submit its funding request, representatives from the Nevada State Education Association (NSEA) and its affiliate, the Lyon County Education Association (LCEA), asked the commission to deny the request and He claimed that the committee decided on the funding method. Distribute funds without input from unions.
“Simply put, the LCEA has not been informed of the district’s plans and has never been offered an opportunity to negotiate the distribution of these funds,” said union president Lorraine de la Torre. Ta.
However, district and school board representatives are demanding that the teachers union wait until after the Dec. 13 IFC meeting to return to the bargaining table to begin negotiations on the previously approved SB231 funding plan. He claimed that there was not.
Asher Killian, the commission’s general counsel, said SB 231 itself requires that before allocating funds to school districts, they must determine whether the funds were subject to collective bargaining, the quality of the collective bargaining, and whether any violations occurred during the collective bargaining process. He said that he was not asking IFC to evaluate whether or not he had done so. . He said the state Employment Relations Board would be better equipped to resolve disputes between school districts and unions.
The commission ultimately approved Lyon County’s funding request with Rep. Nata Anderson (D-Reno) as the lone dissenting vote. Anderson is a teacher in Washoe County and previously served as president of the Washoe Education Association and on his NSEA board.
The Clark County School District was initially expected to be among the districts requesting SB231’s appropriations, but it was removed from the agenda before the meeting. The district has since asked for a postponement request for the IFC’s April meeting as it engages in further negotiations with support staff, according to an email shared by the district.
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