GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — Guilford County commissioners have the stories of custodians, lunch workers and teacher’s assistants from the Guilford County school system to consider when weighing next year’s budget.
Wednesday night’s meeting was packed, every seat was filled with GCS employees advocating for higher pay.
The school district is asking for $101 million. The proposed county budget would not give them any more money than they got last year.
Two-thirds of that would go to restructuring pay scales for classified employees. Classified employees are non-licensed employees like groundskeepers, custodians, bus drivers and teacher’s assistants.
At a rally hosted by the Guilford County Association of Educators, organizers said many classified employees have to work two jobs to get by because they earn around $15 an hour.
They also say the district is struggling to attract and retain classified employees because of low wages. They’re hoping there’s room in the budget to make some changes for the jobs they love.
“I believe that when you tell people you work for the school system, whether what county it is, they think it is a respectable job, and I just believe each and every one of us deserves a respectable raise as well,” said Kevin Mayhue, a GCS employee.
The county has a couple of weeks to tweak the budget before taking a final vote.
