Trustees shouldn’t waste money on assistants
The FUSD trustees are considering hiring personal assistants that would be paid for by the district.
Board president Brooke Ashjian disputes the district’s projected cost of $82,000 per assistant and suggests that it will be closer to $40,000 and the employees would be part-time. Ashjian goes on to say that the cost would be covered by cutting back on the budget in other areas or having trustees pay for their own meals at events.
The cost of this proposal, even at $40,000 per trustee, would be $280,000 per year. So, I ask the trustees, what is the real problem? Are parents not getting timely response by current staff and trustees? Is this problem so severe that it can’t be solved by realigning staff to assist?
Trustees should find ways to cut back and spend the savings on the kids instead of expanding nonessential staff. Get creative. Stop trying to solve a problem by spending more money.
Gerald Waters, Fresno
This story was originally published February 25, 2017 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Trustees shouldn’t waste money on assistants."