Hourly school employees seek compensation for e-learning days

Teachers and other salaried school district employees get paid when an e-learning day is announced, but hourly employees, like paraprofessionals, do not.

“That is all pay that is budgeted, pay that is included already, and we want to make sure that (hourly employees) are getting paid and have the ability to get paid for those days as well,” Rep. Brad Tabke (DFL-Shakopee) told the House Education Finance Committee Wednesday.

He sponsors HF1348 that, as amended, would guarantee pay for all school employees for full- or partial-day closures if the school counts that day as an instructional day. Employees would also be allowed to work from home to the extent practicable.

The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the education finance bill.

Chris Stinson, policy director at Service Employees International Union Local 284, said that even a few hours of pay can make a lot of difference in the lives of paraprofessionals and hourly school employees.

“I can imagine you looking at a concern about making sure that school workers are paid for the two-hour-late start days, and think that’s only 30 or 40 bucks,” he said. “For a lot of our members, that 30 or 40 bucks is the difference between being able to feed their families or not.”

Rep. Patti Anderson (R-Dellwood) questioned the potential cost to Minnesota schools. “So this is another unfunded mandate that costs the school districts money.”

The bill would also require paraprofessionals and hourly employees to be consulted to help create and plan required professional training sessions, according to Stinson.