INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Tuesday night’s School Board meeting started off on an inspirational note, as they often do. But, as is often the case, a huge elephant is ever-present in the room as the positive vibes continue.
Treasure Coast Elementary fourth grader Cara Westenberger was recognized by the superintendent for writing a tribute in essay form to the school janitor. Not only did the 9-year-old receive a certificate of recognition for her writing, but janitor Dave Barnum also received a certificate along with Cara’s teacher, Will Daulby, who made the assignment.
In her essay, which she read, Cara wrote, “Mr. Dave is a great worker, always there to help you, always kind.” She told of how he helps all of the kids “open sauce packages” at lunch, how he polishes the cafeteria floor with his “big, teal machine,” and how he fixes everything — “lights, air-conditioning, and more.”
He played Father Time in a class play and he sings with the chorus and gives all of the kids high-fives, as well as working hard and being so helpful, wrote Cara.
When she finished Schools Superintendent Dr. Fran Adams said: “All of our employees make a huge difference in a child’s life.”
School District leaders didn’t mention that Barnum, as a janitor, is facing a huge cut in his medical insurance benefits, as well as all other cuts in incentive pay.
Cara’s sweet, thoughtful, hard-working Mr. Dave is part of the reason janitors, bus drivers, mechanics, teachers’ aides and cafeteria workers were picketing outside the School District offices until an hour before the meeting.
They work long hours at tough jobs. But they’re facing big cuts in everything from performance bonuses to service incentives, and a huge escalation in what they have to pay for medical insurance.
These workers will now have to pay $460 a month — more than a week’s take-home salary for most — to get the most basic medical insurance for themselves and a spouse, unless an impasse hearing Wednesday morning at the school district offices works miracles for them. This basic medical insurance policy has a $3,000 deductible and requires them to pay 20 percent of the bill.
If they take the “choice plan” for themselves and their spouses, they will pay $615 a month for an $800 deductible policy that requires them to still pay 20 percent.
Earlier in the day, school bus driver Harry Davis, local president of the Communications Workers of America (to which the support staff in the school system belongs) assessed their financial predicament: “If we do what the school superintendent and the school administrators want, we’ll soon be working for nothing.”
But at the school board meeting, the down side of being a janitor seemed far, far away, as Dave Barnum thanked the superintendent and board for his certificate and everyone beamed and applauded in appreciation.
