Oct. 22—FLOYD COUNTY — The New Albany-Floyd County Schools board took action this week to improve pay for classified staff in the district and add health insurance benefits for a group of employees.

On Monday, the NAFCS board voted unanimously to approve both pay raises for classified staff, as well as the addition of health insurance benefits for aides in special education and preschool.

NAFCS Chief Financial Officer Chris Street said an additional 75 cents per hour has been added to the pay scale for classified staff, along with step increases depending on employees' placement on the scale.

For many employees, this will amount to about a dollar an hour increase, he said. Last year, the NAFCS board approved a raise of an extra 50 cents per hour for classified staff.

As for classified salaried positions, the board approved a series of raises last year, including a 3% increase last school year and 2% this school year.

The district has been putting emphasis on special education aides, and their pay will now start at $15 an hour, according to Street. For positions such as food service workers, pay will start at more than $14 an hour.

"That's pretty much across the district now — we're over $14 an hour minimum pay, and we're always looking to improve that," Street said.

In addition, the board took action to provide health insurance for special education and preschool aides 12 years after those benefits were cut for NAFCS aides. The district will now offer a stipend of $6,094 to apply toward health insurance plans .

The district has not been fully staffed for a while when it comes to aides, Street said. NAFCS is offering the benefits in time for open enrollment.

"We've been working to make those positions more attractive, and step is being taken based on listening tours and input from employers and administrators that health insurance is one of the keys to attracting and retaining employees in this group," he said.

Rebecca Gardenour, NAFCS board member, said she has been waiting for 12 years for the administration to bring this recommendation to the board, and she was "ecstatic" to provide health benefits for aides.

She said students and teachers will "be better served as a result of these benefits being restored."

"I did not vote for this many years ago to end these benefits to some of these most important and necessary employees," Gardenour said. "Over these past 12 years, our students and teachers have suffered due to the extensive turnover of these positions, and I've advocated every year to bring these benefits back."

NAFCS Board President Elaine Murphy described the aides as "unsung heroes."

"They support everyone in the school and everyone in the classroom," she said. "This is long overdue."

The board also unanimously adopted a $152 million budget for 2023 at Monday's meeting. The tax rate is advertised at $1.43, but it is expected to be lower at about $1.05.