see WAGE

Pets of the Week

Photos submitted by Andrew Hodnett

The Hanover County Pound, located at 12471 Taylor Complex Lane in Ashland, has wonderful pets available to a good home. Sassy, 582244, is a 1-year-old spayed female Canine/Hound mix. She has had his fi rst set of vaccines and is Heartworm test negative. Sassy is a sweet younger girl who is full of love. She came to the Shelter over a month ago. Sassy is very friendly around people. She loves to run and play with other dogs. Sassy does really well on a leash as well. Long walks are to her liking. Sassy will be a perfect match for an owner who can keep her active. Buddy 582484, is a 2-year-old Canine/ Labrador Retriever Mix. Buddy is a special guy. He has come a long way in our care. Buddy was very timid at fi rst, but with a lot of TLC he has started to really come around. He feels most comfortable being close to you. Buddy seems to get along well SASSY with other dogs. He really shows his playfulness around them. Buddy should be a good companion with an owner who can be patient and give him lots of attention. For more information on these great pets, as well as the many more still in need of homes at the Hanover County Pound Facility, call 804-3656485 during the day. The hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The facility is closed on Sunday and county holidays. You also can visit the website to see other animals available for adoption at http://hanovercounty.gov/ Animals/Adopt-a-Pet/. BUDDY

Continued from pg. 4 vice. The first Ruritan Club was chartered May 21, 1928, in Holland, Virginia. Ruritan has grown throughout the United States of America, and in doing so has become. “America’s Leading Community Service Organization”. Membership in Ruritan is an honor and privilege. To learn more about Ruritan, how to become a member, request a membership application or with questions, please call, 746-5728 or by letter to, Hanover Ruritan, P. O. Box 625, Mechanicsville, VA 23111. To be a guest of the club, call the numbers listed above. Hanover Ruritan welcomes both men and women.

Second Wednesday

Hanover Community Services Board says if you are a family member or friend of someone who has a mental illness, you are not alone. There is support. Hanover Community Services Board offers a family support group on the second Wednesday of every month from 7p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Bell Creek location, 8475 Bell Creek Road in Mechanicsville. Facilitators Rebecca Strader and Heidi Brown invite you to attend this group that follows NAMI principles of confidentiality, respect, empathy and support to one another. No sign

see CALENDAR, pg. 9

WAGE

Continued from pg. 1 based salary adjustments. In addition, the budget includes a minimum wage increase to $15 an hour for county employees, but supervisors called for the same increase in the school division during the April hearing.

At the start of last week’s meeting, County Administrator John Budesky noted how the county is uniquely collaborative in its budget process, as county and school officials meet regularly throughout the year.

“I am happy to say that our budget process is more highly successful than a number of counterparts because we can meet together and walk through issues,” Budesky said.

He said while they aim to treat both county and school employees as consistently as they can throughout the process, the “changing market has taken some of that consistency … out of [their] hands.”

There is currently no federal requirement for a $15 minimum wage, but the market is rapidly changing and competitors have offered even greater wages since the budget’s adoption, he said.

“Quite honestly, a $15 minimum wage is starting to look small compared to some other numbers that we’re seeing in the market,” he said.

He explained that on the county side, they identified only a small group of individuals that did not meet the $15 minimum wage threshold and required around $67,000 in adjustments, so it did not make sense to phase the adjustment over multiple years.

In addition, he and Gill noted how county and school employee classifications have crucial differences and that the school division has a larger number of contracted positions and overall staff to account for.

Gill said moving their lowest wage employees has been a priority for several years, but it will take more than two budget cycles to reach a $15 minimum wage.

“We’re all about solutions,” he said. “And so we do want to look at what it will take to get there, understanding that this probably is not going to be a one-year approach, just like it wasn’t a couple of budget cycles ago.”

Amanda Six, HCPS Director of Finance, presented an overview of what their current pay philosophy is, which is comprised of a uniform pay scale and a teacher salary scale.

The uniform pay scale has a minimum and maximum pay range and grade levels, with each job placed in a grade based on level of responsibility. When a job offer is given, each individual’s work history, education and experience is considered, which determines their position on the scale. At the time the presentation was made, around 1,015 individuals were on the uniform pay plan.

The teacher salary scale is comprised of steps ranging from zero to 42 that correlate with individual experience and offers additional compensation based on level of education. At the time staff developed the presentation, there were around 1,143 employees on the pay plan.

She highlighted the progress they have made in recent years in addressing compression and targeting job families for adjustments, including increasing the average custodian salary from $12.92 in FY2021 to $16.11 as of July 1, 2022. In addition, the lowestpaid school employee will receive $12 an hour -- above the state-required $11 minimum wage rate.

To provide context, she presented four scenarios that would make the $15 minimum wage adjustment, with each scenario building upon the last and widening the scope of targeted employees.

In the first scenario, only the 283 contracted employees that would remain under $15 an hour on July 1 would receive a wage adjustment. This solution alone does not address compression, however, and would negate progress made over the last few cycles to address pay equity.

Scenario two included adjustments for any job family with an employee who falls under the $15 minimum. Each member of the job family would be evaluated and moved up their pro rata share.

Scenario three included all employees who fall on the uniform pay scale that would no longer have an adequate wage gap based on the duties, trainings or certifications required to meet their job’s responsibilities.

Scenario four applied a similar adjustment to the teacher salary scale, which would help address recent recruitment challenges. Six said HCPS has begun the past two academic years with full time teacher vacancies.

“And we really wanted to articulate that we think that adjusting teachers proportionately would help mitigate any impact on teacher morale and our ongoing recruitment and retention efforts,” Six said.

South Anna Supervisor Susan Dibble and Ashland Supervisor Faye Prichard called for the prioritization of scenarios one and two in order to aid the employees most in need.

“It’s the bottom of our pay scale that are struggling,” Dibble said. “And these people are struggling and making decisions on whether or not to buy food or new shoes for their kids.”

“I would implore you to embrace scenario one, work toward scenario two and do as much as you can,” Dibble said.

Steven Ikenberry, school board representative for the Cold Harbor District, expressed worries over “what signal” the minimum wage increase would send to teachers who struggle financially themselves. He said from meeting with five schools in his district, he found that anywhere from 10% to 20% of teachers work second jobs.

Prichard said she believes scenario one and two are a good starting point and that teachers would understand.

Committee members agreed to work toward finding a balance between the two populations in upcoming discussions.

“At the end of the day… there’s never enough money for everything we want to take care of,” Budesky said. “There’s the amount that we have, and we need to prioritize that the best we can.”

He said they need to improve on setting budget priorities in advance to minimize any lack of clarity between school and county officials by the budget’s adoption.

“We appreciate the candor in this discussion, and in the months to come we will work toward interim solutions for longer-term problems,” he said.