RSU 21 and the district’s Educational Technician Association recently inked an agreement that reclassifies 60 ed techs to a higher level and increases their salaries by about 20 percent. Tammy Wells photo
KENNEBUNK – The reclassification of 60 education technicians currently employed by Regional School Unit 21 from Level II to Level III will expand special education capacity, district leaders say.
In an email, RSU 21 board chair Art LeBlanc said RSU 21 is down about 29 ed techs – and he pointed out, in all, nine of York County’s 11 school districts are attempting to fill ed tech vacancies.
LeBlanc quoted Special Education Director Susan Martin as saying 27 of the 29 vacancies are in special education.
“Reclassification allows Educational Technician IIIs to plan, supervise and instruct students with indirect supervision from special education teachers,” said Martin in LeBlanc’s email.
All of the 60 ed techs employed at Level II who have been reclassified at Level III are state certified at the higher level, LeBlanc said.
In the district, ed techs are classified at one of three levels, based on the scope of their responsibilities, said RSU 21 Human Resources Director Scott Harrison in a news release. “But with the extraordinary demands of the pandemic, our needs have shifted, and we realized that the reclassification could offer greater flexibility and better enable the district to support the needs of students. We have Ed Tech IIs who are qualified and certified to do the work needed in the classroom at a higher level,” he said.
The 60 reclassified technicians will see an uptick in pay of about 20 percent, said LeBlanc, estimating a current Ed Tech II in the middle of the scale earns about $17.45 an hour. The increase in wages will be covered by the current budget, through the unpaid salaries from the vacant positions, he said.
The reclassification was achieved through a memorandum of agreement with the RSU 21 Education Technician Association. A second agreement extends special COVID health and safety protections and paid leave benefits to employees.
“This reclassification will help us retain our valued ed techs doing the work and may also help us to recruit new educational technicians to fill critical openings,” said Superintendent Terri Cooper in the news release.
The ed tech association and the RSU 21 negotiating team – which included board member Dawn Therrien, the district’s chief negotiator for the past two years, Cooper and others, met several times over the past year. The memoranda were approved by the association and the school board last week.
“This is huge,” said RSU 21 Educational Technician Association President Robin Vaughan, “It’s really good news for our ed techs.”
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
