Aurora Public Schools’ Board of Education plans to talk about creating a classified workers union in an executive session later this month after hearing demands from such staff members in two board meetings.

Classified staff members — non-teaching employees — include custodians, bus drivers, paraprofessionals and cafeteria workers. 

In August, about a dozen APS staff members rallied to ask for a union election at a board meeting, speaking to board members about low salaries, turnover concerns and alleged harassment.

Several staff members returned to Tuesday night’s board meeting to request the same, and board members decided to meet first with legal counsel in an executive session to figure out how to proceed, as recommended by Brandon Eyre, legal counsel for the board.

The next executive session is Sept. 24, and Eyre said he will walk board members through “the legal sandbox you’re walking into” before they figure out next steps.

Shayla Davila, a paraeducator at Sable Child Development Center, said Tuesday she struggles to make ends meet and does many jobs outside of her job description that she doesn’t get paid for.

“We are educators, we are caretakers, de-escalators, tutors, translators and sometimes, the only consistent adult a student sees all day,” Davila said. “We are not paid to do any of those things.”

Classified workers don’t expect to be rich doing their work, she said, but they do expect to be able to live, pay rent and take care of their families.

“Please don’t let our care be exploited,” Davila said. “Please invest in us, not just with kind words, but with fair compensation and real recognition.”

Maribel Rodriguez, a former APS student who now works at Sable as well, echoed similar sentiments, saying she has to choose between having a family of her own and keeping her job, since she does not get paid enough for the former.

“I went to college, I graduated, and I still can’t make ends meet,” Rodriguez said. “I hold a Bachelor’s degree, I have my teaching license, I am pursuing my Master’s, but I know I am never going to get paid the same as a licensed teacher.”

Currently, the Aurora Education Association represents more than 1,500 teachers in the school districts, serving as a “vehicle for effective communication with education policy makers of the district,” according to the association’s website. 

They advocate for professional salaries, benefits and work environment improvement. More than 70% of APS teachers are members of the association, according to the website.

However, there is not currently a union for classified employees, many of whom expressed concerns Tuesday about being underpaid, undervalued and harassed with no means of representation to make change.

According to APS classified salary schedule, the hourly pay for classified staff members ranges from $16.19 to $55.77. Licensed staff salaries range from $60,593 to $125,245.

Since the proposal is pending, the school district declined to comment on the petition, a spokesperson said. 

Board Director Vicki Reinhard said in the August meeting that the conversation is “not new.”

“I think it’s time for us to actively listen when our parents, our community and our staff are bringing us these issues,” Reinhard said. “Every one of them said, these are issues that impact Aurora Public Schools, not just a group, not just an office, not just a site.”