Central Bucks School District’s support staff union warned the school board that ongoing staffing shortages and low wages are pushing essential workers to the brink, as contract negotiations loom later this year.
Deneen Dry, president of the Central Bucks Education Support Professionals Association, said during public comment at Thursday night’s school board meeting that the district has lost 111 support employees to resignations and retirements since August. CBESPA represents nearly 1,200 workers across operations, facilities, maintenance, custodial services, health services, office roles, paraprofessionals, safety and security, and technology.
“Support professionals are present in every building across this district and essential to both district and student success,” Dry said.
She described a workforce strained by short staffing, increased responsibilities and rising living costs without corresponding wage growth.
“Nearly 80% of those who remain earn below the Bucks County annual self-sufficiency wage and cannot meet basic needs without public assistance or a second job. This reflects a workforce in crisis and demands action," she said.
Dry tied the staffing issues directly to student impact, telling board members, “Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions.”
She said vacancies have forced remaining employees to absorb additional duties without extra pay, while some supervisory and administrative roles have received added compensation.
Her remarks came the same night the board approved an assistant superintendent contract, a move Dry contrasted with what she described as stagnating pay for frontline workers.
“When compensation at the top grows, while frontline positions remain understaffed, retention suffers,” she said.
Support staff shortages have been especially acute in special education and custodial roles, according to union leaders. Dry said paraprofessionals working with special education students earn about $19 per hour, well below the roughly $26 per hour estimated as a living wage for a single adult in Bucks County.
Some support employees are not paid during school breaks when students are not in session, she said.
Dry said the union had previously agreed to allow the district to use a third-party staffing agency to help fill special education support positions because of safety and coverage concerns. Even so, she said, only a limited number of positions have been filled, and some students who are supposed to have one-on-one support still do not.
With the current CBESPA contract set to expire in June, Dry said the union intended to enter negotiations “professionally and collaboratively.” However, she warned that if a deal is not reached, the union will consider further action.
“Without our dedicated support professionals, this district does not operate efficiently,” Dry said. “And when it does not, our students are directly affected. We here tonight stand united and ask that you treat this workforce with the respect that we have earned.”
