Trinity workers OK pay freeze
Trinity Area School District cafeteria workers have agreed to a one-year pay freeze as part of a new five-year contract with the school district.
The school board Thursday approved the contract with Trinity Area Cafeteria Support Professionals, which includes about 30 employees.
Other personnel, including administrators, teachers and support staff, already have agreed to wage freezes to keep payroll costs down.
“I’d like to thank the cafeteria staff for taking a pay freeze to help the district deal with its financial constraints,” Superintendent Michael Lucas said.
When cafeteria workers do receive a raise, it will average 3 percent over the course of the contract, which runs from July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2021.
The average hourly wage for cafeteria workers is $12.50 per hour.
In another matter, the school board approved an agreement with Open Arc LLC, a web development company, to redesign the district’s website at a cost of $33,232.
Lucas said the district’s current website is “a dinosaur,” and that the new website will improve communication between the school district and parents. It also will be able to function on all cellphones and, because there is no monthly fee to operate the website, the district will realize long-term cost savings.
In a related matter, the school board approved a contract with Thought Process Enterprises, which enables the district to participate as a publisher in the EDGEclick network. EDGEclick enables school districts to include website advertisements on their web pages, providing a revenue source for the school districts and an advertising outlet for businesses.
School districts receive money for each hit on ads, and Lucas said the district projects it will recoup between $2,000 and $5,000 through EDGEclick.
The board approved a contract with DQE Communications, which will increase the district’s Internet bandwidth by eight times more than its current bandwidth, while saving the district $60,000 over five years.
Lucas said the improved bandwitch will provide adequate speed for all of the technology the district uses.
The board also approved using a NSA security guard in lieu of three hall and cafeteria monitors until the end of the school year at a cost of $100 a day. Lucas said the cost to pay the hall monitors and cafeteria monitors was approximately $100 a day.