At yesterday's school board meeting, Miguel Kerrigan (Driver), Cathy Dugovich (2nd grade), Jan Broussau (7th grade LA/SS ESL), Sarah Olson (Technology TOSA), and Kristen Bourke (5th grade Gifted) spoke with great passion to a room packed with MIEA members. They expressed their love for their work and their students while imploring the Board to support the staff by not cutting wages.
Miguel set the tone by outlining why he appreciates working for the district. He emphasized how cohesive we've been as a district and would like to see us continue to work together. Cathy followed by sharing a picture of her daughter taken 21 years ago chewing on a packet of peanuts with a sticker stating "Don't make us work for peanuts - WEA." She stated how disheartening it is to always be struggling to earn a professional wage and now to be here asking to not cut our pay. She said we always hear "it is for the kids," yet all the work we do is "for the kids." We have kids of our own to care for and it is harder to do that with ever decreasing salaries.
Jan Broussau started her comments pointing out what a strange position she is in -- essentially begging the school board to not cut her salary. She pointed out we've already seen cuts over the past 3 years and we know there are smaller districts than ours with fewer resources who have been able to keep their staff whole. Sarah echoed what a humbling position it is to be in. She shared how there are members on our staff who simply can't afford a 1.9% cut. Kristen Bourke finished up the comments section by saying the staff members give so much to the district while our costs continue to rise.
They did a fabulous job speaking sincerely and from the heart. We are lucky to have such amazing coworkers. Two questions remain, how compassionate are our School Board members and are you ready to do more to help the district do the right thing?
