Schools unsure how to meet support staff pay rises

Just 10 days before the new school year starts, some schools are unsure how they will afford a pay bump for New Zealand’s teaching support staff.

The Government announced late in 2019 that as a result of pay negotiations with NZEI teacher aides and other support staff would be offered a $21.15/hour ‘‘living wage’’ – well above the $17.70 minimum wage which some are many are paid currently.

That has left one principal telling Stuff she may have to cut the hours of teacher aides if more funding was not on its way.

But the Ministry of Education said extra funding will meet the gap and schools will have a better idea by the end of the month.

Support staff are paid out of school’s operational budgets instead of directly by the ministry, as teachers are.

A single message from the Ministry of Education has instructed schools that the pay bump will come out of an already-planned 1.8 per cent increase in operational granting and ‘‘additional funding that will be provided to boards in their quarterly operational funding payments’’.

Principal of Auckland’s Ahuroa School Michelle Nell said this was nowhere near enough clarity – given she was already trying to finalise her budget and offer jobs to support staff.

‘‘If it has to be paid out of the 1.8 per cent operational grant increase – that’s not even inflation.

‘‘So we have to take money out of what we would normally be spending on kids.’’

Nell said she would usually have her budget mostly finalised by October but she was still in a state of flux as she was not sure how she would pay the new rates, or how many hours to offer to potential support staff.

‘‘You can’t work out how many people you have on the ground without knowing how much you have to spend.’’

Her school already paid its three support staff a slightly lower ‘‘living wage’’ and she supported paying support staff more.

National’s education spokeswoman Nikki Kaye said her party supported paying the staff more but schools needed more detail.

‘‘Schools need time to ensure the appropriate administration processes are in place so staff can be paid correctly by March when the new rates kick in, the Government should have been on top of this already.

‘‘It is hard for schools to budget for the year when they do not know how much they may need to set aside to pay for the pay increase. Principals are concerned that if the Government doesn’t come up with a reasonable amount of cash then they may have to cut teacher aide hours.’’

President of the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA) Lorraine Kerr also supported the pay rise but wanted more clarity for schools.

‘‘Principals need to have some certainty around staffing for 2020,’’ Kerr said.

‘‘They need to know what they can offer if they like in terms of the 2020 salary round. There’s a wee bit of anxiety of principals in terms of not knowing.’’

Ellen MacGregor-Reid, deputy secretary early learning and student achievement at the Ministry of Education, said the money would come from the 1.8 per cent operational grant increase and ‘‘additional funding’’ which would be finalised by the end of the month.

‘‘Schools will be funded to meet the costs of these increases and are able to engage support staff as usual,’’ MacGregor-Reid said.

‘‘We are finalising the timing of the additional settlement funding and will be in a position to confirm this by the end of January.’’