At the August Alpena Public Schools board meeting, many instructional aides attended to voice their dissatisfaction of how they were treated during a staff meeting.

As of Aug. 31, they had 107 instructional assistants, with 27 vacant positions. The instructional aides were asked to help recruit new employees. The aides expressed concern about low pay and unreasonable demands due to staff shortage. An instructional aide who had been with the school system 30 years loves her job, her students and the staff. She has accumulated 80 days of paid leave, but can’t use her time off due to staff shortage. One employee spoke during public comment and asked board members if they could live on $15/hour. She said they could make more at McDonald’s. HR told them to go to McDonald’s. Aides were asking for reasonable pay, more staff, and more respect.

I have four grandchildren; three are special needs. One of my granddaughters has had multiple strokes, three brain surgeries and has moyamoya. She was assisted by an instructional aide as she went through the public school system. Because of the individualized attention, she now has a job at Dairy Queen. We are so proud of her and thank her instructional aides for helping her be a productive young adult. Instructional aides are irreplaceable.

The board has voted to accept a higher bid for asphalt ($3,600 higher than the lowest bidder for a lower grade of asphalt) and voted for a second law firm (at $275 per hour). This is a waste of taxpayer dollars. If the board was not wasting taxpayer dollars, they could pay instructional aides more to retain the staff they have and recruit more staff.

My question to the board is: “Can you live on $15/hour?”

DORETTA DeCAIRE,

Alpena