LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Employees at Oldham County Schools are set to get a pay increase this summer.
The Oldham County school board has approved a 7% raise for salaried certified and classified employees and a $2 an hour raise for hourly classified employees.
The board voted unanimously 5-0 Monday to approve the raises, a decision that had meeting attendees standing and applauding.
At the front of the room was Janet Hill, an Oldham County bus driver.
"I'm thankful for the raise we're getting," she said. "But it's not going to be sufficient for these drivers to live in the community."
In her decade of driving school buses, Hill was face-to-face with a situation she never imagined this year. A student on her bus choked on a bottle cap and couldn't breathe, so Hill did what she was trained to do.
"I immediately went back and said, 'Where's the kid', you know, and just started doing the abdominal thrusts. And I did 22 before it started to dislodge and he threw up. And then I did an additional. Well, the total was 29 thrusts before he was able to get it out," Hill said. "This is something that we know we have to do. Be prepared, safety first, finish the task that's before you."
Hill was one of a few bus drivers sitting at the front of the board meeting, waiting to see if their pay was going to be raised.
Board Vice Chair Larry Dodson said this was the biggest raise he has seen in his 16 years as a member.
But, as bus driver Blaine Anderson said, Oldham County is called the state's wealthiest county and living expenses aren't cheap.
"We get it, you're not just going to over night get the same pay as JCPS, that's not going to happen," Anderson said.
Before the raise, bus drivers in Oldham County make around $38,000 a year. Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) bus drivers make $55,000.
A starting teacher at Oldham makes around $39,000, compared to $47,000 at JCPS.
"We have not rewarded our teachers very well in the last 10 years and felt like 7% was definitely warranted and needed this year," said Oldham County Chair Suzanne Hundley.
Hundley said this is just the tip of the iceberg of what the board would like to provide teachers and staff in the coming years.
Hundley says they hope the raise will keep employees within the county.
She also said Oldham County is now offering free tuition to people who live outside of Oldham County but teach or work in the county, and are hopefully approving paid maternity leave next month. Both hope to increase retention.
The board said this is in addition to the annual STEP increase.
A spokesperson for the district said conservative budgeting and efficient use of taxpayer dollars along with the approved state budget helped them offer the largest raise to their employees.
“We appreciate our legislators for passing a budget that increases support to public education which helps us recruit and retain high quality staff for the ultimate benefit of our students. And of course, we thank our Board for recognizing the need to increase compensation as much as possible for every employee,” OCS spokesperson Lori Webb said.
The raise for the employees will take effect July 1.
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