Reading School District food service workers will receive raises of $6.50 an hour over the next three years under a new union contract approved by the school board.<\/p>\n
The board on Wednesday approved the three-year collective bargaining agreement with the PA Joint Board of Workers United, SEIU Local 155, which represents district food service workers.<\/p>\n
The agreement, which runs through June 30, 2029, provides current workers with a $2.50-per-hour raise in the first year and $2-per-hour increases in each of the following two years.<\/p>\n
Starting wages will range from $16 an hour for general workers and floaters to $17.25 for lead cooks. The agreement also increases paid holidays to eight from six and personal days to two from one.<\/p>\n
In another matter, the board approved an agreement with The Camel Project, a Reading-based nonprofit that works to prevent bullying and related trauma.<\/p>\n
Before the vote, Camel Project founder and executive director Pamela Gockley told the board that preventing bullying requires more than written policies or awareness campaigns. She said employees need practical training to recognize bullying, de-escalate situations and respond consistently.<\/p>\n
\u201cA policy on a website does not change behaviors,\u201d Gockley said. \u201cA poster in the hall does not change culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
The board also approved a two-year renewal agreement with TWG Security for the district\u2019s security screening system and several construction-related changes. Those included a $125,676 reduction in the cost of renovations to restrooms and locker rooms at Southwest Middle School.<\/p>\n
The board also ratified dozens of hires and promotions as the new school year gets underway. Among them was Cortney Cunningham as a new assistant principal at 13th & Union Elementary School.<\/p>\n
The board approved several newly created teaching and support positions, including positions at the recently opened Reading High School Innovation Academy.<\/p>\n
Dr. Khalid Mumin, superintendent, welcomed the new administrators and employees, saying he was pleased to see district employees advancing into new roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very proud that you\u2019ve chosen to move up or move in with the Red Knight family,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I\u2019m looking forward to great work from you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The board also approved the retirements of three longtime district employees: Ramon Acevedo, a security guard at Central Middle School; Gilbert Johnson, a security guard at Reading High School; and Ronnie Loeb, a custodian at Northeast Middle School.<\/p>\n
Acevedo will retire Sept. 18, Johnson on Dec. 31 and Loeb retired July 16, according to the district.<\/p>\n
Acevedo\u2019s tenure stretched back far enough that several current school board members remembered him from their own days as students.<\/p>\n
Board member Jonathan Tinoco said Acevedo was working in school security when Tinoco attended Reading High about two decades ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cRamon, wherever you are, thank you for your service,\u201d Tinoco said. \u201cAnd to this day, the authority that you provided, I will always remember it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Board member Shaykayarira Del Rio Gonzalez had an even longer connection.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Acevedo, you\u2019ll be missed,\u201d she said. \u201cI know you were around when I was in school, and that was 32 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mumin said Acevedo, Johnson and Loeb were more than district employees.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see them as family,\u201d he said, recalling Acevedo\u2019s volunteer work with the Salvation Army and Johnson\u2019s years as a coach. \u201cI\u2019m just thankful and wish them Godspeed in retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reading School District food service workers will receive raises of $6.50 an hour over the next three years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,857,182,139,28,736,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-275752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-essential-reading","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}