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Board Approves Negotiated Pay Increase for TPS Support Staff

After back-to-back years of teacher pay raises, Tulsa Public Schools support staff are getting a bump in pay.

The TPS Board approved this week an agreement for a  30-cent raise between the district and the local union representing those 2,600 workers.

"The 30 cents per hour increase will be applied to the employee’s base salary only … and employees above the adjusted salary range maximum will receive 50% of the increased amount," said TPS Board President Shawna Keller.

The raises will be implemented this month, with back pay coming after the holidays.

"I’m so happy to see this agreement, so happy to know that these folks are going to get this increase, and before Christmas, we think," said TPS Board Vice President Suzanne Schreiber.

Superintendent Deborah Gist said she’s aware people are wary of budget moves right now.

"Know that we do plan for increases like this and this is not unexpected to us, and so it’s factored into all of our cost considerations for this year and beyond," Gist said.

District administrators and the local American Federation of Teachers union representing support staff had been in talks since the summer.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.