About 60 teachers and parents demonstrated along Niblick Road Tuesday afternoon near the Paso Robles School District Office. The teachers upset about the impasse in contract negotiations with school district administrators. Superintendent Curt Dubost offered teachers a 1.5% pay increase and one time $3,000 stipend for teachers. Justin Pickard of the PRPE Teachers Union says the teachers want a 5% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).
At their meeting Tuesday night, the Paso Robles School Board accepted the resignation of trustee Jim Reed. The board also approved a two-year contract for PRJUSD Superintendent Curt Dubost.
Despite calls for “schools over pools” by some teachers, the board gave Chief Business Officer Brad Pawlowski the go-ahead to develop plans for a swimming pool at Paso Robles High School. The plan is scaled-down dramticallly from the Aquatic Complex proposed by former Superintendent Chris Williams and Swim Coach Jen Brown. Pawlowski says the plan was developed after the grand Jury raised questions about more than a million dollars in equipment was purchased, and hundreds of thousands of dollars raised for the Aquatic Complex, but not pool manifested.
Pawlowski will further develop the plan for one 38-meter pool to be built at the high school. The current budget surplus will pay for the construction, but Pawlowski admits the “elephant-in-the-room” is the operating costs which will occur once the pool is built. He says the pool design company has estimated $255,000 per year, but a teacher told the board Tuesday night that the operators of Sinsheimer Pool in San Luis Obispo estimated that it will cost $800,000. The pool discussion will continue at future board meetings.
