Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 11, 1992                   TAG: 9203110298
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

4% RAISE ASKED FOR SALEM SCHOOL WORKERS

But Tripp tempered that recommendation to the School Board by cautioning that the proposed salary increase would leave some employees who have less seniority "at a disadvantage."

School employees received a 4 percent across-the-board raise for the current school year with no step increases. Should employees receive the same this year, some employees at the higher end of the scale would get significantly higher increases than those at the lower end, Tripp said.

"In steps zero to six, there's not a lot of difference in dollars and cents. But in steps six to 12, there's literally thousands of dollars difference," Tripp said. "That's got to be fixed. We have to look toward restructuring our pay plan."

An increase of 1 percentage point costs the school system $140,000 based on current salaries and fringe benefits, Tripp said.

Salem ranks 10th in the state for 20-year teacher earnings. The school system's 1991-92 beginning teacher's salary of $24,150 places it 20th in state rankings.

Tripp's budget recommendations also included:

Increasing the school system's health insurance contribution to employees. Tripp said some "classified" employees - professionals who do not have college degrees - use literally their entire paycheck to pay the employee share of health insurance costs.

Hiring four to six staff members.

Increasing the advanced-degree supplement by 50 percent. Tripp said the supplement has not been raised for some time.

The board will review the personnel portion of the 1992-93 budget in detail on March 24.