'Make sure we retain people': DPS and unions agrees to wage increases

After two years of fighting, Denver Public School paraprofessionals and service workers will finally see a wage increase. On Thursday, DPS and several unions agreed on new financial agreements, raising wages a few dollars depending on the job.

Bernie Jiron is the president of the Denver Federation for Paraprofessionals & Nutrition Service Employees. She was a paraprofessional for more than 40 years and a key player in the negotiations.

"We educate these kids. We feed these kids. We secure the buildings," Jiron said. "I was just so happy that we did it. We stuck to our guns."

She knows how difficult it's been for many of her colleagues to survive over the years.

"The biggest concern for them was housing and groceries," said Jiron. "And most of my ladies that I have talked with were single moms, having kids, and that was the hardest thing, 'Can I afford to stay here? Because I'm only getting $15.87.'"

The wage increase means paraprofessionals will go from $15.87 to now $20 an hour. That will go up to $21 by 2024. The starting hourly rate for food service employees will be $18.00 in 2022, $19 in 2023, and $20 in 2024. Custodians will increase to $20 per hour by the 2024-2025 school year. The starting rate for patrol officers will be $27.50 effective August 2022, and bus drivers will see an increase of $24.40 by the start of the school year.

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"Twenty dollars for some may not look, on face, like a lot but for those who have been making $15 or less for so many years in the Denver Public Schools, this is a substantial increase," said DPS Board Member Tay Anderson.

Anderson tells CBS4 while this is a good start, the fight now is for the future.

"Now we need to start looking at what is it going to look like in 2025, in 2030, because we need to keep up with the cost of living in this very expensive city," he said.

While this increase will help individuals, Anderson and Jiron are hoping it'll also address other district issues.

"And that's what my objective was to make sure we retain people, and we recruit people to come back to educate these kids," Jiron said.

A spokesperson with the Denver Classroom Teachers Association says the union will go back to the negotiating table with the district on Aug. 2.