I am a STGRSD paraprofessional writing this in response to the front page article in Westfield News on 9/1/12 regarding the Southwick paraprofessionals “new pay schedule”. During the course of the summer of 2012 we received several letters from the STGRS district. Not one of them included forewarning about the “new pay schedule”. Our last paycheck was issued to us on 6/8/12. And we worked until 6/18/12. So yes, very recent “past payroll practice” had us being paid for “time not yet worked”! When we were told last year that we would be going from being paid 26 paychecks to being paid 21 or 22 paychecks many of us made the necessary provisions/adjustments to get through until 8/31/12. This was the date that the district, including the paraprofessionals, would receive a paycheck. Imagine our dismay when we reported back for our first day on 8/27/12 and were informed that the paraprofessionals would in fact not be paid until 9/14/12. Telling us ahead of time would have afforded us the opportunity to prepare for what is most definitely a hardship for some. (And it certainly would have been the courteous thing to do.) The “special paychecks” that were issued to us on 9/7/12 put us on the same pay schedule as the rest of the district, as it should be and always has been. Fast forward to June 21st 2013. Attached to our last paycheck is the following note: “the 1st paycheck for para’s for the 2013-2014 school year will be on Fri. 9/13/13”. All other employees in the district received their first paycheck on Aug. 30th. Once again many of the para’s were put into a very difficult financial position. Mr. Presnal, the time for that note was back in Sept. of 2012 sot that we would have the time to prepare. I would also like to say that back in Sept. of 2012 we were told that we would be allowed to negotiate the paycheck portion of our contract without having to wait for the actual negotiation period in Jan. 2014 and that never happened. That is the reason this letter didn’t go into the pulseline last year. Did we complain? Are we complaining? You betcha! All of you para’s out there can appreciate our circumstances. Nobody chooses this career for the money.
On the riverfront, how much money did we spend on these three companies coming up with these different projects and whatever? How much does it cost us to have these blueprints and all that cost? Did we vote on any of that stuff? We don’t need to spend that kind of money. We’re in debt, Mr. Knapik.
According to the city’s Community Development Director Peter Miller, the Riverfront Feasibility Study cost $19,980, and the source of funding was the HUD Community Development Block Grant. Separately, the city has received an EPA Brownfields Assessment grant for Phase 1 and Phase 2 environmental reviews for city-owned properties in the Riverfront area, which are being administered by the PVPC.
