Opinion: Celebrating the school staff that support Scottsdale students

National Educational Support Professionals Day this year is Nov. 18.

This day was founded by the National Education Association in 1987 to honor the contributions of school and district support staff. This list includes our staff in classrooms, maintenance, grounds, facilities, special education, nutritional services, transportation, IT, custodial positions, office support and community specialists.

They are the mortar in the foundation that supports our district in providing academic and social emotional success in our SUSD schools.

We depend on our classified staff every day to make sure the wheels stay on the bus (literally)! During this pandemic, they continued to provide meals to our students as well as feed hungry youth in our community.

They worked to ensure that our students would return to a sanitized school environment. They prepared HVAC systems for safer standards and installed hand washing stations.

Classified office staff made phone calls to families to check on students and worked tirelessly to support principals in welcoming students, in person and virtual, during these unprecedented times. Para-professionals tend to the personal care and support of our most fragile students who cannot perform these tasks on their own. God bless them.

SUSD employs over 1,300 classified workers. These are among the lowest paid workers in the district’s organization. Until the state adopted minimum wage guidelines falling more in line with a living wage, these workers were paid less than many fast-food workers yet entrusted with our most precious treasure, our children.

Let’s honor these fine people not only one day each year, but every day. How?

• Greet the school crossing guards and thank them for helping our students, rain or shine, cold or sweltering hot.
• Thank our bus drivers for making sure our children get to and from school safely.
• Be kind to office staff. They are often the first point of contact for parents and often bear the brunt of someone’s bad day, and must do so with grace and calm.
• Be grateful that our children will never be without a meal so long as our nutritional service employees are on the job.
• Honor the workers who ensure that our schools are clean and the grounds are maintained. Children deserve a clean, orderly environment in which to learn.

Our classified staff, all 1,300+ of them, work tirelessly to help provide the best educational experience in the best school district in Arizona. On Nov. 18, please recognize their contribution. But every day, let’s be grateful to them for helping our students be safe, healthy and ready to learn.

Editor’s Note: Keri Blaker is president of the Scottsdale Support Professional Association and a member of Arcadia High School staff; Rose Smith is retired from the Arizona Education Association and a former SSPA team leader.