Dear Bossier Parish School Board,
Actions speak louder than words. On two separate occasions, you have expressed a willingness to take action and change policy/procedure to the benefit of your employees, but no action has been taken. We want to take you at your word. We want you to take action.
Red River United is asking all Bossier Parish employees to continue push the Bossier Parish School Board to take their suggestions seriously (Caddo can lend support to its sister Parish, too). Please come to the BPSB meeting this Thursday, March 6 at 6:00 PM at the BPSB office in Benton and put the pressure on the BPSB to follow through with their rhetoric of listening to their school employees with actual action on the issues.
Last year, members in Bossier Parish called Red River United and asked if there was anything we could do about asking the Bossier Parish School Board to give employees the OPTION of receiving a paycheck twice monthly. The OPTION of receiving your pay two times per month is something that new and transferred employees are looking for. Additionally, unexpected expenses (blown tires, emergency surgery, etc.) can quickly deplete a person’s savings. Knowing that a paycheck is coming soon can help navigate through a financial quagmire. Red River United is not pushing for anyone to change their pay schedule who does not want to. By request from our members, Red River United brought this request to the Bossier Parish School Board at the September 5, 2013 school board meeting. After hearing testimony from RRU members about twice monthly pay, the BPSB responded saying that they will send surveys to employees and look into the possibility of implementing the twice monthly pay option for the next school year. Well, it’s almost next school year and BPSB employees have seen no such survey nor have heard any more news on the topic from the BPSB since.
Are you really listening to us, Bossier Parish School Board? In a BPSB Admin meeting on Tuesday, February 25, the BPSB indicated to Red River United that they would consider adding one more step to the dismissal policy. The suggestion was made by Jackie Lansdale, President of Red River United, based on lengthy experience navigating school board policies that already limit your ability to appeal wrongful terminations. Although they indicated that they would consider these suggestion but they made no moves to formally draft the new policy for a vote at the next board meeting.
We are asking for consistency. We are asking for transparency. We are asking for action. Join us at the next Bossier Parish School Board meeting, Thursday, March 6 at 6:00PM (BPSB Office in Benton).