District 1 staff to get raises

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By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

Carbon County School District 1 employees should see their salaries increase by 6 percent next year.

That means more than $2,000 should find its way into the pockets of entry-level employees making the base salary, according to Denise Ashline of the District 1 teacher’s association. Employees saw an increase of $300 to their base salary last year, she said.

“I’m not going to say we’re ecstatic, but we feel we’ve done the best we can with the money that’s coming in,” Ashline said.

The raise applies to all district employees.

In addition to the percentage pay raises, employees get what’s called “step” raises each year. For each additional year of service, an employee can earn up to $650. Enhancing their education can also earn a pay increase.

The compensation plan’s other change is that employees now have to pay for most of their dental insurance, Ashline said. Last year, the district covered all of the expenses, but now they offer $24.75 each month toward payments for individuals and families.

Money that comes from the state gets budgeted by the district to cover all school expenses. Because the cost to run the schools has gone up, the state Legislature allocated funds differently.

The School District 1 Board allocated some of the new money to staff to help cover an increased cost of living, as well as to help maintain the step raises