Pine-Richland employees, positions added to union representing support professionals

Several employees and classifications of employees are being added to a union representing support professionals in the Pine-Richland School District.

The school board approved the agreement with the Pine-Richland Education Support Professionals Association at its July 21 meeting.

The association approached the district about adding the positions to the bargaining unit, and it took about two years to hammer out the details, said Justin Battalini, a representative for the association with Pennsylvania State Education Association.

“In other districts, all of those would be in the unit. For whatever reason at Pine-Richland, they were not,” he said. “The district did agree that if we probably had to go to the Labor Relations Board, they would be brought in. We worked cooperatively with the district to sign an agreement to incorporate those positions into the unit moving forward.”

Before the agreement, the association represented 139 employees including secretaries, paraprofessionals, personal care assistants, library assistants, custodians, maintenance technicians and a media and communications coordinator, a district spokeswoman said.

The agreement is expected to add 22 employees to the association’s ranks, according to the district.

Under the agreement, the safety and security technologist, cafeteria and recess monitors, and kindergarten aides become part of the bargaining unit.

Certain administrative support personnel will not fully become part of the unit until the existing employees leave through retirement, resignation, termination, reassignment or death, according to the agreement.

Those positions are accounts payable and accounts receivable specialist, administrative assistant to the director of student services and special education, human resources support, media services specialist, payroll and employee benefits specialist, state and student data coordinator and system administrators.

While those positions are filled with their incumbent employees, the district may continue to assign their job duties as nonbargaining unit personnel.

The association agreed that some administrative support personnel positions would not be added. They are administrative assistant to the superintendent/board secretary, administrative assistant to assistant superintendents and school security officers.

Brooke Huff was hired as the safety and security technologist in October 2024 at $24 per hour. Under the agreement, it was to have a starting hourly rate between $22 and $26, with annual pay increases fixed at 65 cents to 80 cents per hour, based on an increase of 3% rounded to the nearest nickel.

For cafeteria monitor, recess monitor, cafeteria/recess monitor and kindergarten aide positions, the starting hourly rates will be $15.75 as of July 1, 2025, and $16.35 as of July 1, 2026.

The association agreed that monitoring students during lunch and recess is not exclusive to the bargaining unit. The district will be allowed to use administrative personnel and volunteers to help with monitoring during lunch and recess.

As of July 22, the only vacancies are for cafeteria/recess monitors. The district is continuing to recruit custodians, wh already were represented in the bargaining unit.