Lincoln Board of Education approves pay increase for several staff groups, designates Juneteenth as paid holiday for 260-day employees

The Lincoln Board of Education approved one-year negotiated agreements with seven employee groups on Tuesday night during their regular meeting that includes pay increases for employees that support teaching and learning. In addition, Juneteenth will be designated as a paid holiday moving forward starting on June 19, 2024, for employees who work year-round.

This agreement represents the largest single-year salary increase since 2004 for paraeducators, office professionals, technicians, and maintenance staff. It ranks among the top three single-year salary increases since 2004 for custodians and nutrition services workers.

“We are working to recruit and retain a talented and diverse workforce and these salary increases and agreements will help us achieve those goals in a competitive job market,”  said LPS Director of Employee Relations Blake Simpson. “I want to thank these seven employee associations for their collaborative approach to solving problems and for working with me, on behalf of the Board, to build stronger relationships not only during negotiations, but in maintaining a workforce focused on our goal of providing an excellent education to over 41,000 students.”

As part of the process, it was determined the word “secretary” will be phased out to align with industry standards and be replaced with “office professional” to better represent job functions for employees covered by the Association of Office Professionals.

As part of the negotiated agreement, LPS will assume the health insurance out of pocket increase of 1.99% for all bargaining groups. Other highlights of the agreements include:

• Paraeducators: 7% total package increase to include a 7.51% salary increase (range per hour going from $14.64-$18.49 to $15.96-$19.82) and changes to the service year stipend (range going from $0.25-$1.00 to $0.30-$1.10).
• Office Professionals: 4.55% total package increase to include a 4.26% salary increase (range per hour going from $18.51-$23.49 to $19.30-$24.49) and changes to the service year stipend (range going from $0.70-$1.10 to $0.75-$1.15). 
• Technicians: 4.55% total package increase to include 4.49% salary increase and changes to the service year stipend (increasing existing levels by $0.10 and adding a level for employees with 20+ years of experience with LPS).
• Maintenance Staff: 4.55% total package increase to include 4.73% salary increase (range per hour going from $24.78-$46.44 to $27.27-$49.76).
• Custodians: 5% total package increase to include 5.07% salary increase (range per hour from $18.59-$26.86 to $19.53-$28.22).
• Nutrition Services: 5.50% total package increase to include 5.51% salary increase (range per hour going from $15.53-$23.10 to $16.37-$24.35) and changes to the service year stipend (range going from $0.30-$0.80 to $0.45-$1.25).
• Administrators: 4.55% total package increase to include 4.28% salary increase and adjustments to long-service increments.

Classified workers, or non-certified staff, make up roughly 45% of the LPS workforce totalling approximately 3,000 workers overall. 

“They serve varied and critical functions to our mission of supporting students in early childhood through twelfth grade and beyond,” added Simpson. “Although our schools will have 175 days of instruction with students next year, the work of the school district is year-round and often well beyond the instructional day.”

Due to hiring timelines for the 2024-2025 school year, the Board waived second reading and voted to approve the negotiated agreements. 

You can find a copy of the full agreements for each group approved by the Board at the May 14 meeting here. The Board approved the certified employee negotiated agreement during the February 13 Regular Board meeting. The only negotiated agreement still in progress is for Transportation.

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