After months of hearing the Springs School teaching assistants decry unfairly low wages and mysterious pay cuts — and hearing other faculty members and parents rally around them — the Springs School Board on Nov. 7 approved an across-the-board raise of $6,420.
The starting salary for a certified teaching assistant (T.A.) has now been set at $30,000 for the district's teaching assistants, who were among the lowest-paid employees at the school. Previously, the starting salary was $23,580. The move also increases the T.A. salaries above what New York State considers "poverty line" earnings in 2023 ($25,142 for a single-person household).
"We recognize how hard they work and we're really trying to do right by them financially," Barbara Dayton, the school board president, said in announcing the changes during this week's board meeting.
In Springs, T.A.s have said they have hefty responsibilities: They serve as one-to-one aides for special education students, help the teachers in the youngest grades manage their classrooms, cover the "car line" system of student drop-off and pickup, and watch over the students on the playground at recess, among other duties.
Facing the resignation of several of these critically important employees early in the school year, the board decided in September to open the contract negotiations with the T.A.s a year ahead of schedule. School board records show that the district convened a special executive session dedicated to reviewing employee matters on Nov. 7, with a brief public portion to approve what was described in the minutes as "a modified collective bargaining agreement."
The cash-strapped Springs district, where voters approved an over-the-tax-cap budget in May for the current school year, also recently gave pay raises to bus drivers and security guards, all in an effort to compete with surrounding schools that offer higher wages. In examining the T.A.s' claims that their salaries were lowered improperly and without warning, the district also embarked on a comprehensive audit of its payroll.
Margarette Doyle, a Springs T.A. who has been an outspoken advocate for herself and her peers, explained after Tuesday's board meeting that her original salary, prior to the cut, "was recognized as being correct." The district also "paid me my back pay that was owed to me," she said.
"The Springs School teachers assistants may only be 10 people strong," Ms. Doyle later said, "but we found out no matter how small your numbers are, if you stand united and stay strong, your voice will be heard. I hope it is enough to bring much needed new T.A.s back into our school. Only time will tell."