Fall River School Committee member Kevin Aguiar is asking Mayor Paul Coogan and the City Council to consider raising the pay for members of the committee to that of those on the council..
School committee members make a part-time yearly salary of $7,197 a year while councilors earn a part-time pay of $16,091.06 a year, a 45% discrepancy. Those rates, along with the mayor’s salary of $118,688.24 a year, are set by ordinance and have remained unchanged since 2017.
Mr. Aguiar says the matter of raising the salary of school committee members is one of equity.
Mr. Aguiar says he has not made a decision as to whether he will seek re-election to the school committee this year or consider running for a different city office
Mr. Aguiar’s letter is on the agenda for the next city council meeting tomorrow night. He says some members of the council told him they would be open to a discussion on the issue.
Mayor Paul Coogan. who also serves as chair of the school committee, does not support Mr’ Aguiar’s proposal, saying the more-than-doubling of pay sends a negative message to city and school department employees.
Mr. Aguiar says the amount of the increase for the school committee should not impact the collective bargaining positions of school department employees.
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