Raises Weighed for Some School Staff

MOORPARK — Bus drivers, janitors and other support staff of the Moorpark Unified School District may soon receive a raise, even if it strains the district’s already tight budget.

District trustees are scheduled to vote Tuesday on an agreement that would raise compensation for the average nonteaching employee by 3.65%. The agreement covers 325 district employees and would cost $176,900 to implement.

The agreement comes at a time when the district already expects to end the current fiscal year $409,429 in the red. With 30 new elementary school teachers on the payroll, added as part of the effort to reduce class sizes, the district will need to dip into its general fund to balance its books.

The proposed agreement, hammered out between the district and the California School Employees Assn. in February, would bring the amount the district spends on classified employees to just over $5 million, out of a $32-million budget.